Those seeking license renewal driven to frustration

For Charlotte Cooper, getting a renewed Florida driver's license has been a challenge to her patience as well as her pocketbook.

She is frustrated by a new law that requires some drivers in the Sunshine State to bring with them a satchel full of certified documents for renewals.

Cooper, who has had a Florida driver's license since 1972, has tried to renew her license two times and still is waiting for the out-of-state certified documents she needs.

She's on her second extension from the driver's license office. The documents she needs, including certified copies of her birth certificates, two marriage licenses and a divorce decree, have cost her a lot of money. And she's still waiting for a marriage certificate from Massachusetts issued 55 years ago, she said.

"Now," she said, "I'm up to $155 worth of replacement documents to get a driver's license that I've had for over 50 years. And I haven't even paid my license renewal fee yet."

She made her first trip Feb. 1, two weeks before her birthday. She thought she had the documents needed under the new law, but the copy of her birth certificate from Massachusetts was not certified, she said.

"I didn't realize that," she said. "I ordered a new one from Massachusetts. That was $45."

She returned but was told she needed the marriage certificates for both of her marriages and the 48-year-old divorce papers from her first marriage.

She has gotten two extensions and still is waiting for the necessary documents.

"I got another extension to April 1," she said. "I'm still legal. I'm still waiting for Massachusetts to send me documents."

Clamping down on identity theft and fraud, driver's license office managers across the state expected the regulations would irk some motorists who came in to renew or get Florida licenses.

"We knew it would be a learning curve," said Ann Howard, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in Tallahassee.

The requirements, which took effect Jan. 1, are a mandate from the federal government, which wants to make sure the person whose name and photo appear on a license is indeed that person.

The change has been a focus of frustration among a small percentage of people seeking new or renewed licenses. Many have been sent away because they didn't have all the official paperwork.

"It's a lot more stringent now," Howard said, "but from the first of the year until now, 500,000 Floridians have gotten licenses and identification cards, so there are folks out there who do have the documents needed."

She said getting renewed licenses online is less stressful.

"If you can do an online renewal," she said, "we would suggest you go ahead and do that."

For a new Florida license, a driver must bring a valid U.S. passport or an original or certified copy of a birth certificate.

If the name of the applicant is different than that on the birth certificate or passport, certified copies of marriage or divorce court documents are required.

The applicant must have proof of a Social Security number, by a Social Security card or some other document, and two documents proving a primary residence, such as a recent utility bill, but only if the bill has the name of the applicant on it.

Certified copies are the key, Howard said, and any legal name changes must be documented.

"We are going to have to see the change-of-name trail," she said. "This is all being done to protect the individual."

She said she thinks the percentage of applicants sent away for lack of proper documents "is relatively small."

Ana Nieves, who oversees management of two driver's license offices in the Tampa Bay area, said people are more frustrated than grumpy, although they may leave grumbling after being told they don't have the right documents. "It is frustrating if they don't have the proper stuff," she said.

Cooper, the frustrated applicant, hopes the third trip to get her driver's license renewed is the charm. She also wondered how others are doing it.

"I'm all in favor of all these security measures," she said. "I thank people who ask to see my driver's license; I appreciate all that. I don't have a problem waiting at the airport. My concern is how many additional unlicensed people will be driving out there because they can't cope with what I'm coping with right now."

"I'm sure," she said, "that some can't afford it."