HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is reminding customers that they can join more than 140,000 Pennsylvanians who have pre-verified for REAL ID online and at driver license centers statewide.

Customers who bring in the required REAL ID documentation to any PennDOT Driver License Center may apply for REAL ID online once REAL IDs are available in March and receive their REAL ID driver’s license or photo ID card in the mail.

Because PennDOT may already have electronic documents on file for approximately 35 percent of its total customers, individuals who received their first PA driver’s license or ID card after September 2003, these customers have had the option to apply for REAL ID pre-verification online since March of 2018.

Most of PennDOT’s customers, however, received their initial product before September 2003, so PennDOT does not have their required REAL ID documents on file. Customers in this group who want a REAL ID will need to bring the required documents to a Driver’s License Center so they can be verified in person.

These customers may bring the required documents to any PennDOT driver license center. Federal regulations require that to be issued a REAL ID-compliant product, PennDOT must verify original versions or certified copies of the following documents:

Proof of Identity (Original or certified copy of a birth certificate with a raised seal or valid U.S. Passport)

Proof of Social Security Number (Social security card)

Two Proofs of Current, Physical Pennsylvania address (Current, unexpired PA license or ID, current vehicle registration, auto insurance card, utility bill, etc.)

Proof of all legal name changes, if current full legal name is different than what’s reflected on the proof of identity document (Certified marriage certificate or court order issued by your county’s family court).

PennDOT staff will image the documents to the customer’s record, and when REAL IDs are available in March 2019, the customer can opt into the REAL ID program online, and their REAL ID product will be sent through the mail, eliminating any need for this customer to visit a Driver License Center.

To obtain a REAL ID, customers will pay a one-time fee of $30, plus a renewal fee (current renewal fee is $30.50 for a four-year non-commercial driver’s license or a photo ID). The expiration date of their initial REAL ID product will include any time remaining on their existing non-REAL ID product, plus an additional four years, unless the customer is over 65 and has a two-year license. This expiration date structure means that the customer won’t “lose” time that they’ve already paid for. After the initial REAL ID product expires, the customer will pay no additional fee, beyond regular renewal fees, to renew a REAL ID product.