CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- If you can't lay your hands on your original Social Security card, you might begin planning to get a replacement.
On Jan. 3 -- just three weeks from now -- if you want to renew your West Virginia driver's license or get a new one, you will have to show an original Social Security card, a wage and tax statement with your Social Security number on it, or a Social Security Administration Form 1099.
The Social Security identification is just one requirement in a program known as Real ID, a highly secure driver's licensing system.
"Real ID means when you come in to get your driver's license renewed or for a new issue, you must satisfy three requirements," said state Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Joe Miller.
"One is proof of identification -- a birth certificate, a valid U.S. passport, or, of foreign-born, unexpired Homeland Security documents.
"The second is proof of your Social Security number." That proof must be your original card, a wage and tax statement with your Social Security number on it, or a Social Security Administration Form 1099, which is a benefits form.
"Those are the only three things that will satisfy proof of your Social Security number," Miller said.
"The third is you have to prove you are a resident of the state."
Two proofs of West Virginia residency with address and name will be required.
"That can be a utility bill, a tax record, mortgage documents, a W-2 form, a valid DMV registration card with the correct address on it, a voter's registration card, a homestead exemption tax form, proof of West Virginia public assistance, or a rental or lease document."
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- If you can't lay your hands on your original Social Security card, you might begin planning to get a replacement.
On Jan. 3 -- just three weeks from now -- if you want to renew your West Virginia driver's license or get a new one, you will have to show an original Social Security card, a wage and tax statement with your Social Security number on it, or a Social Security Administration Form 1099.
The Social Security identification is just one requirement in a program known as Real ID, a highly secure driver's licensing system.
"Real ID means when you come in to get your driver's license renewed or for a new issue, you must satisfy three requirements," said state Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Joe Miller.
"One is proof of identification -- a birth certificate, a valid U.S. passport, or, of foreign-born, unexpired Homeland Security documents.
"The second is proof of your Social Security number." That proof must be your original card, a wage and tax statement with your Social Security number on it, or a Social Security Administration Form 1099, which is a benefits form.
"Those are the only three things that will satisfy proof of your Social Security number," Miller said.
"The third is you have to prove you are a resident of the state."
Two proofs of West Virginia residency with address and name will be required.
"That can be a utility bill, a tax record, mortgage documents, a W-2 form, a valid DMV registration card with the correct address on it, a voter's registration card, a homestead exemption tax form, proof of West Virginia public assistance, or a rental or lease document."
There are 1.4 million registered license drivers in West Virginia. A license is valid for five years and expires on the holder's birthday. That means about 23,000 licenses will need to be renewed every month for the next five years.
"This will be huge on Jan. 3," Miller said. "This is real. It's not something we're just talking about. You've got to think ahead if you don't have a Social Security card."
It currently takes about two weeks to get a Social Security card replaced, Miller said.
Real ID "has been on the front burner since I came here," Miller said. "There's been a lot of give and take between us, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators and the federal Department of Homeland Security."
Miller noted that Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is a former governor of Arizona.
"She convinced Congress to make changes to make it [Real ID] more acceptable to the 50 states," he said. "She's been a godsend to us."
He stressed that the federal government established the tough new requirements.
"Seven of the 11 [Sept. 11, 2001] terrorists had authentic driver's licenses that were fraudulently obtained," he said. "Here's a true example of a few bad guys making it burdensome for 1.4 million people in West Virginia."
Reach George Hohmann at busin...@dailymail.com or 304-348-4836.
