What Do I Need To Get A Michigan Driver's License

If you want to travel the country without a passport in your pocket, check your wallet. You may demand to bandy your tattered old driver'southward license for a new one, enhanced with a little star that allows y'all to lath a plane.

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States are rolling out Real ID, a driver's license that can be used for federal identification. By October. 1, 2020, in near cases you lot'll need a Real ID driver's license — the kind with a star — to board domestic airline flights without a passport. An enhanced driver's license, bachelor in v states, will also work but goes fifty-fifty further and requires more documentation.

Getting a Real ID or an enhanced driver's license adds a few requirements beyond a standard driver's license renewal. To get your new driver'south license — whether a Real ID, enhanced license or the old-fashioned kind — here's what to do.

How to get a Real ID driver's license

To upgrade your standard license to a Existent ID driver'south license, you lot must evidence up in person at your state'due south licensing part with an assortment of documents.

Your paperwork will demand to:

Prove y'all're legally living in the U.Southward., such as with a passport or naturalization certificate.
Show your full legal proper name, date of nativity and Social Security number.
Prove your home address with two different documents. Options may include mortgage bills or electric current auto insurance ID cards.

States vary in the documents they will accept, and some may have boosted requirements, so check before you lot become. In some states, you may need an engagement to become your Existent ID.

Most states are already issuing Existent ID driver'due south licenses, and the rest are on rail to offer them before October 2020, co-ordinate to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In many states, a Real ID costs the aforementioned equally a standard driver's license. Some states accuse a erstwhile Existent ID fee of $10 to $30. If you upgrade to a Existent ID when your current driver'south license isn't due for renewal, you'll typically pay the normal fee for a replacement license.

With a Existent ID, you won't need a passport to board flights that stay within the U.Due south., just you'll still demand i for international travel. Y'all can also use a Existent ID every bit identification for entering federal facilities, such as a military base, national laboratory or federal courthouse.

Y'all'll know you have a Existent ID commuter'south license if there'southward a blackness or gold star at the elevation, or a star cutout on a black or gold groundwork.

How to get an enhanced driver'due south license

Like a Existent ID, an enhanced driver's license lets you fly within the U.South. without a passport. Then it goes a step further: With an enhanced license, you can cantankerous the border into the U.S. from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean, by land or ocean, without conveying a passport. Yous'll still need a passport for an international flying , though.

Enhanced driver's licenses are bachelor in five states. Four of them — Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Vermont — effect both Real ID and enhanced driver's licenses in addition to standard licenses or driver privilege cards. Washington state has merely the enhanced version, forth with its standard driver'south license.

To upgrade to an enhanced driver's license, you'll need documents similar to those required for a Real ID. You'll also need proof of U.Due south. citizenship, such as a birth document. Check with your local licensing office to meet which documents your state accepts.

An enhanced driver'due south license typically costs $15 to $30 more a standard license. Instead of a star like the Real ID, the enhanced driver's license is marked with an American flag.

How to become a standard driver'due south license

If yous're more than interested in driving than flying, y'all may opt non to upgrade to a Real ID or enhanced driver's license. Standard driver'due south licenses are still bachelor in most states, and they're fine for driving, registering to vote, and almost other uses.

If you already have a valid standard commuter's license in your state, getting a new one is probable to be much simpler than obtaining a Real ID or enhanced license. Y'all may be able to handle everything online or by mail, with no documentation beyond your current commuter'south license.

If yous don't already have a valid license in your state, you'll probably need to show your residence in the state and have another grade of identification handy. If your license was suspended, you may also need to show proof that you have auto insurance in at least the state-mandated minimums . Vision and written tests are required in some states when y'all get a new driver's license. Check the requirements in your state for details.

A standard driver'south license typically will exist marked to show it can't exist used for federal identification, but you tin can use other documents when you demand to fly. Among the options are a passport, military ID, or trusted traveler carte du jour such every bit Global Entry .

And your standard driver'southward license volition get you through airport security for domestic flights until Oct. 1, 2020.

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When to become a new driver's license

Millions of drivers are expected to upgrade to Real ID licenses. If you desire i for boarding flights starting in October 2020, it'due south a good thought to apply as soon equally you tin can. Lines may be long if you look until the concluding minute.

If you lot don't desire a Real ID or enhanced commuter's license, yous tin can go on using your current license for now.

However, hither are some other situations when you may need a new driver's license:

You've never had a driver'due south license . To get your first license, you're typically required to pass written, vision and driving tests. And so you'll need to provide documents proving your identity. Requirements vary by state, and so cheque with the office that issues licenses where you live.
You recently moved to a new land . Y'all'll need a new commuter's license if you lot relocate to a new state . If you accept a valid license from your previous state, you typically can transfer it and get your new license without taking all the tests required of a new commuter.
Your commuter's license is lost or stolen . If your license is missing for whatever reason, you'll demand a new one speedily because it'south illegal to drive without ane. The replacement fee tends to be lower than the initial license fee. For example, a Maine license costs $30 originally, but a replacement costs just $5.
Your driver's license has been suspended or revoked . To reinstate your license afterwards a violation, you lot'll typically need to prove yous've paid fines, attended court-ordered programs and met other requirements specific to your violation. Yous may need an SR-22 form from your auto insurer , showing yous have at least your state'due south minimum required liability insurance. In some cases, you'll take to pass written, vision and road tests as well.
Your current driver'due south license is expired or near to expire . In most states, you'll need to renew your driver's license after anywhere from ii to eight years. You should receive a find alerting you of the borderline to renew. If your license has been expired for a while (the length of time varies by state), you lot'll have to take a driving test once again before you tin go a new valid license in some states.
Yous have recently immigrated to the U.S. As an immigrant, you can apply an International Driving Permit along with your non-U.S. license to bulldoze legally when you lot get-go arrive. You must become the IDP before y'all motion to the U.S., in the country that issued your non-U.South. driver's license. Once you institute U.Due south. residency, you lot'll need to get an official driver'south license from your new home state.

Driver's license regulations are decided on a land-by-state basis, so be sure to bank check with your state'due south license-issuing office for specifics.