The S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles will begin accepting documents from South Carolinians seeking a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card.
The agency stressed changing driver’s licenses or state-issued ID cards to a REAL ID-compliant card is optional and voluntary. “If you feel you will not be boarding a commercial flight, visiting a secure federal building, or a military base, you do not need a REAL ID-compliant license or ID,” the agency said in a release. The agency noted that residents who have received their first-ever SC license or ID during or after November 2010, do not have to bring documents. “If you have a valid U.S. passport/passport card, military ID, or another federally approved identification, you may use that as your form of identification to board a commercial flight or visit a secure federal building or military base, but you must carry it with you for the above activities,” the agency added.
By Oct. 1, 2020, S.C. residents must have some form of a federally approved identification to board a commercial flight, even within the United States, or visit a secure federal facility like a military base. However, REAL ID cards are not needed to drive, vote, access hospitals, receive federal benefits, enter a non-secure federal building, or participate in law enforcement proceedings, the agency said.
Residents interested in getting a REAL ID-compliant license or ID, in the future, or an original beginner’s permit, license, or ID should bring all of the following types of documents with them to the DMV office:
The DMV suggested that people interested in obtaining a REAL ID check the agency’s website, www.scdmvonline.com to check on how long they’ll have to wait. The agency added that the new licenses won’t even be available for at least six months.