Real ID? Real pain in the neck for Illinois residents trying to get one

All Judith Coleman wanted to do was change the address on her driver’s license and get a new license plate.

She succeeded — but only after an epic three-and-a-half hour ordeal at an Illinois Secretary of State driver services facility in Lombard in late October.

“When I got there, there was a line out the door,” says Coleman, who lives in Hinsdale and recently moved back to Illinois from Florida.

It was 10:30 a.m. on a Friday, and a security guard was telling people who wanted to get one of the new, specially marked Real ID cards that no more spots were available to do so for the rest of the day, which lately has become a widespread problem at driver’s license centers in Chicago and the suburbs.

The problem? Too many people are showing up wanting one of the new cards — which many don’t even need, according to Secretary of State’s officials.

A Real ID will be one of the acceptable forms of identification required to fly out of all U.S. airports as of Oct. 1, 2020. But it isn’t the only one, which many people don’t realize, so they’ve been streaming into driver’s license centers, eager to get one. Anyone with a U.S. passport, passport card or military ID won’t need a Real ID to fly even after the federal Department of Homeland Security starts requiring federally approved identification to board flights.

Federally approved IDs also will be required to enter secure federal buildings — such as the Dirksen Federal Building in the Loop — but U.S. passports and military IDs are fine for that, too.

If you have a passport or one of the other approved forms of ID, “You already have a Real ID-compliant document,” says Dave Druker, spokesman for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, and don’t need to replace your driver’s license with a new Real ID.

So far, about 410,000 Real IDs have been issued in Illinois.

Some of the longest lines to get them have been in the Chicago area, including the driver’s license facility at 5401 N. Elston Ave. and the one in Deerfield.

On Elston, about 75 people were lined up in the cold on Wednesday even before it opened at 8:30 a.m.

Stephanie Zimmermann / Sun-Times

Lauren Kloska was back for a second attempt to renew his license and get a Real ID at the same time. He’d tried at 2 p.m. the day before but was told the place was too full to accommodate more people.

“I was in line for about a half hour, and they said no more IDs,” Kloska said.

Rachel Beale also was in line for a renewal. She figured she’d get the Real ID as well, even though she has a passport. “I figure I might as well get it now,” she said. “Better safe than sorry.”

The Real ID cards have a little gold star in the upper right corner and cost $20 for a state ID and $30 for a driver’s license.

A Real ID card isn’t needed to drive, vote, open a bank account, apply for federal programs such as VA benefits or Social Security, enter a post office or visit a hospital.

People who want a Real ID for convenience — so they don’t have to carry their passport on domestic flights — might want to wait until their regular driver’s license renewal, when lines might be lighter, Druker suggests.

He says the increase in customers isn’t unique to Illinois — and that people should expect the high volume to continue as the federal deadline approaches, with long lines despite the agency’s hiring additional employees and in some cases offering extended “pop-up” hours at some facilities.

He says it’s a good idea if you want a Real ID for air travel on or after Oct. 1, 2020, to apply at least 60 days before your flight. Minors flying alone will need the card if they don’t have a valid U.S. passport.