Women Face Chaos Trying to Get a Real ID

At the end of last summer, Debra Kohn became very well-acquainted with her local Pennsylvania DMV.

She ended up making three trips there, along with one to the clerk’s office, to obtain a valid Real ID — and all because her marriage certificate from 1986 was from a justice of the peace, not the county.

Starting May 7, anyone getting on a domestic flight will no longer be able to use an old driver’s license. Instead, they will need a Real ID or other form of valid identification.

Like Kohn, Americans need to bring a slew of documents to the DMV, including an original marriage certificate for those who have changed their names. Getting an original marriage certificate from the state usually takes weeks and costs a fee.

Kohn isn’t alone in her Real ID difficulties. Though many married or divorced women have the necessary documents handy or can get them relatively easily, others have taken to social media to share their difficulties. Business Insider spoke to four women about the lengthy, often confusing process.

Representatives for the Transportation Department, TSA, and Department of Homeland Security did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

‘Extremely frustrating’

Kohn, 68, told Business Insider she probably spent six hours getting the necessary certificate — one with an official raised seal — between her many trips and time spent at the DMV. She hasn’t heard of any of her friends having similar issues.

Jessiqua, a 34-year-old in Oklahoma who asked to go by her first name for fear of retaliation from her ex-husband, said lengthy divorce proceedings made it difficult for her to get a Real ID in 2020 and 2021, even though she wasn’t even switching back to her maiden name.

“When I went to get my Real ID, they wanted my marriage certificate and they wanted my divorce document,” she told BI. “I was in the middle of a divorce. I didn’t have a divorce document, I had to fight for one.”

Eventually, she got a legal separation document from her lawyer.

Julie Anderson, a 58-year-old in Massachusetts, said she got “lucky” when applying for a Real ID in April of this year. Divorced but with her ex-husband’s last name, she only brought a copy of her marriage license (along with a divorce decree). The DMV employee talked to his supervisor and, somehow, they accepted her copy.

“The person at the desk said, ‘I’m really surprised they did,'” Anderson told BI. “Luckily they did, because I went to my files and I went through everything, I don’t even own a copy of my original marriage license.”

Diane Wagner, 53, wasn’t as fortunate and found the whole process “extremely frustrating.” She visited her DMV office in St. Louis, Missouri, three times in one day to try and get the right marriage certificate, because the copy she had at home wasn’t enough.

“It was a whole day running around, between waiting in line and finding all my items and going back and waiting in line again.”

Eventually, she paid a fee and applied for a certified marriage certificate online, which arrived about two weeks later.

“Had I known there was gonna be all these hoops, I maybe never would’ve changed my name,” Wagner said.

People are scrambling to get their IDs

The Real ID Act, passed in 2005, was a response to the September 11 attacks. It was initially meant to go into effect in 2008, but the deadline has been pushed multiple times. Now that it’s actually here, it seems many Americans are scrambling to get their Real IDs.

Business Insider checked availability at some DMV offices on May 2. Some offices, like the one in Fort Benton, Montana, had openings in early May, whereas others were totally booked. In the Louisville, Kentucky, offices, for example, the earliest appointments were on July 1. And Illinois’ DMV website displayed a pop-up: “Due to the federally-mandated Real ID requirements, our facilities and website have been overwhelmed with requests for Real IDs.”

Illinois has set up a “walk-in Real ID Only Supercenter,” according to the pop-up message, and some local municipalities are hosting their own events to deal with the overflow. People can still get their Real ID after the new rules go into effect.

The day she spoke to BI, Wagner tried to finally get her Real ID. She showed up at 4:40 p.m. to an office that closed at 5 p.m.

Even so, she was turned away. There were too many people in line.