Let me start off saying, the way our Government does things is a bit ridiculous. I know that certain rules must be in place to make sure everything is the way it’s supposed to be, but this new REAL ID thing is a little bit much. My license had expired; since everyone eventually would have to switch over to the REAL ID, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge.
Well, I go to my local DMV office and give the worker all the required documents (which again…a bit much) and she proceeds to tell me that because my name on my birth certificate is different from my license, I will have to have my marriage license…um, okay but my license had my new last name because I changed it when I got married.
I said, “okay, I’ll bring it back by to be scanned in” (which is not as simple as coming back at any time, due to COVID-19 restrictions).
So, I make an appointment and go back to my next appointed day with my marriage license. The lady now says, “Oh, because your last name is different on this marriage license (I had been married before), you’ll have to bring back this marriage license and your previous marriage license.” Are you kidding me?? I have to go to the courthouse and obtain a certified copy of a marriage license that I don’t need, to then come back to the DMV for the third time. Oh my gosh, I thought my head was going to explode!
Five days later, after going to the courthouse, paying ten dollars for an old marriage license I don’t want, and traveling back to the DMV, I had to redo all the first steps. Which included taking a NEW PICTURE when I looked like I had just rolled out of bed!! Y’all, I have never been so irritated at someone as much as I was at the DMV worker who told me to “step in front of the blue wall and look at the camera!”
Needless to say, if you go to get the REAL ID and you have a different last name from your birth certificate, make sure you have all of the documentation that shows how you got to the new last name you currently have. I promise it will save you many trips! Also, another word of advice, make sure you always go to the DMV ready for a picture or, you’ll end up looking like an ogre on your license.
