By PENNY FLETCHER
penny@observernews.net
Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, new documentation requirements took effect for Florida residents wishing to obtain a driver license or state-issued identification card. Those wishing to obtain a new license, legally change their name prior to their renewal date, or immediately replace a lost or stolen license or ID card must go to their local driver’s license office and bring what proof of identification they have, including any photo identification, their Social Security number and two items that prove their current address such as a tax receipt and electric bill.
Obtaining a new license after the expiration date, however, will require proof of identification that extends back to your birth certifice. Because each person will be required to provide a personalized paper trail, the DMV suggests that drivers begin now by going to www.gathergoget.com where you will enter your specific information and be told what documents you will need. Those with no access to the Internet may go to the Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s Office in the SunPoint Shopping Plaza, State Road 674 (College Ave) in Ruskin, and ask for help there.
Some of the items everyone will need are their birth certificate (not a copy; it must have a state seal); marriage certificate (original state-sealed, not from a church); and divorce papers and remarriage certificates if you have changed your last name by marriage more than once. If your maiden name appears on the most current document (latest marriage) you may not have to obtain all marriage and divorce papers prior to it. However, since all Real ID’s have been initiated to ascertain the validity of your identity, each person’s checklist will read somewhat differently.
The Department of Homeland Security that passed this act has given states the ability to waiver certain documents that cannot be replaced if a good-faith effort to do so can be shown.
