Getting a license will take longer; renewing one will require documents

http://nwi.com/articles/2009/07/09/n...ee00057b1f.txt

Renewing an Indiana drivers license or state ID card will a become little more tedious next year thanks to new security measures announced Wednesday.

The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, beginning Jan. 1, will require customers -- even longtime drivers renewing licenses -- to produce a birth certificate or passport to prove identity and U.S. citizenship. And no one will walk out of the BMV with a new license or ID.

Instead, the state will issue temporary permits to new applicants and mail their licenses or ID cards within 10 days. Hoosiers renewing an ID or license will get 14-day extensions of current cards while they watch the mailbox.

Noncitizens will need to show visas, though state officials say the new Secure ID program is aimed at curbing identity theft, not illegal immigration.

"Identity theft and fraud is the fastest-growing crime in the United States, and government-issued documents like our drivers licenses and ID cards are targets for people who commit these crimes, " BMV Commissioner Andy Miller said in a statement. "In fact, the BMV today has over 500 cases of identity theft or fraud."

BMV spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said, "Foreign nationals have the least amount of change under this new program."

Despite that, Alicia Rios, Midwestern vice president for the League of United Latin American Citizens, had her concerns. She said many noncitizens are in the "in between" process of obtaining a visa.

"They need to rethink this change to come up with a way that won't negatively impact people," said Rios, adding that there are potentially about 3,000 people of Mexican citizenship alone living in Lake County who could be affected.

But BMV officials said there have been enough instances in which noncitizens used state-issued licenses to establish legitimacy that Indiana officials believe there to be a legitimate concern. The precautions are similar to those adopted by 20 other states.

"Drivers licenses have become the most common piece of identification," Rosebrough said. "We want to be sure we're issuing them responsibly."

Starting Jan. 1, Hoosiers will need as many as four documents to renew a drivers license or state ID card at BMV branches. And they won't walk out with a new license -- it will be mailed up to 10 days later. New applicants will get temporary permits. And renewers will have expired licenses and IDs extended for two weeks.

License and ID card applicants will need to prove:

Identity: Birth certificate, or U.S. passport (and marriage certificate for name change)
Social Security number: Social Security Card, or W-2 form
Lawful status: Birth certificate, passport or visa
Address: Bank statement or utility bill

 

Florida recently had some rules changes, but nowhere near as hard as Indiana.

http://www.flhsmv.gov/ddl/address.html

 

There are some flaws in these requirements. First off, if you don't travel overseas, you're not going to have a passport or visa. And, as for birth certificates, those alone don't prove citizenship. For instance, mine is printed in German. Yet I was born an American citizen, to an American civilian mother and an American military father, in a U.S. Army hospital in Germany.......American property. I'm basically like John McCain......born a citizen outside our borders.