Clear your schedules because you will be at the DMV a long time. Prepare yourself to spend up to 4 hours when going to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The cause for the increased wait: Renewing your ID. (Let's be real, the DMV already takes sometime out of your day.)
Maryland has changed their Driver's License and Identification Card's to the REAL ID , an ID that allows you to enter Federal facilities and to board commercial aircrafts. Whether or not your license is expiring this year, residents will get a notification in the mail alerting them to the change.
"The REAL ID Act is a federal law passed by Congress after Sept. 11, 2001, that establishes specific minimum federal standards for state-issued driver's licenses and ID cards to be accepted for certain federal purposes, like entering a federal building or boarding a domestic commercial flight. Enforcement of the REAL ID Act at the card level begins on October 1, 2020." - MD Motor Vehicle Administration
Before the change, when going to renew your license, you were able to apply online for your new ID. Now, you have to bring FOUR forms of identification, along with your expired ID. These are the acceptable forms if identification:
- US Birth Certificate
- US Passport
- Consular Report of Birth Abroad
- Permanent Resident Card- valid, unexpired
- Certificate of Naturalization
- Certificate of Citizenship
- Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) - unexpired
- Unexpired Foreign Passport WITH current valid USCIS Documentation
- US or MD Birth Certificate for adopted individuals with Adoption Records/Certificate/Decree (Customers born abroad adopted by US citizens.)
- U.S Adoption records with full name and date of birth
- U.S. Passport expired less than 5 years
- Court Documents
- Marriage or Divorce Documents
- Unexpired Foreign Passport
To find out more about the REAL ID, click here .