ILLINOIS – State Secretary Jesse White announced Tuesday that his office is upgrading security features to the Driver’s License / ID card design and expanding the central issuance process for those to all applicants.
By the end of July, applicants visiting Driver Services facilities will no longer be issued a new permanent license / identification card at the end of the application process. Instead, applicants will receive a temporary paper license. This temporary document will be valid for 45 days and will serve as their driver’s license and proof of identification.
The temporary license will have the applicant’s picture and basic information as it appears on a permanent driver’s license or ID card.
It would also be accepted for purposes of air travel until the permanent card arrives.
A facility employee would also return the applicant’s old license or card but punch a hole in it.
Then, a background check will be performed on the applicant at a centralized, secure facility in state. After fraud checks are done to ensure the applicant’s identity, they will have a “higher quality, more secure” card sent to their address within 15 business days.
Secretary White said in a release on Tuesday, May 17, these changes are being made to ensure Illinois is compliant with the REAL ID federal mandate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“The upgraded driver’s license and ID card contain a variety of enhanced security features that take advantage of new developments in technology,” White says.
Illinois joins 39 other states that have moved to centralized production of DL/ID cards.
According to state officials, central issuance provides better fraud and identity theft prevention by allowing the Secretary’s office to investigate before someone receives a DL/ID card.
These steps being taken come after DHS’s announcement that they would only accept Illinois DL/IDs until January 22, 2018 at airports, should they fail to become REAL ID compliant.
Secretary White says Illinois now 84 percent compliant with the federal mandate.
The transition to central issuance will take place in phases.
Beginning this week, Safe Driver Renewal applicants will receive their new driver’s license by mail with the upgraded security features. These motorists opted for and expect to receive their driver’s license by mail.
Second, through a gradual rollout, Driver Services facilities throughout the state will implement central issuance using the newly designed card. By the end of July, all facilities will have transitioned.
While the driver’s license and ID card upgrades are being implemented, there will be more than one valid driver’s license / ID card until the old design format is phased out.
