proof of citizenship to renew a maine DL?! WTF. Rant Warning

[mikebike357]

So as I'm at the post office getting the stuff to renew my passport which expired last year, I realize my drivers license is about to expire. The Post Office lady said that I'd need 'proof of citizenship' to renew it. So I looked it up online thinking that was a bunch of crap. Turns out, you do! WTF?! So to RENEW my DL, I have to get a birth certificate from Pennsylvania because my passport is expired and I have no other way to prove I'm a US Citizen according to the DMV website... This is one of the most idiotic things I've ever seen.

I can renew my passport by mailing it back with a check for $110 and a new pic... but I can't get a new Maine drivers license without a birth certificate.

stupid stupid stupid.

 

[Ty Ty]

They won't accept your expired passport?

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

try a different DMV office or at least a different DMV office associate (or wahtever they call em)

otherwise, renew the passport & use that for the dumbazz DMV thing.

 

[saabaru]

That is not cool. Wait to get your passport then go to DMV.

 

[Pedro]

when you get your DL, wait a year and then get a state ID. I use one to renew the other.

 

[mikebike357]

I can't use my current passport because it's expired... has to be a valid ID. I think I'm going to just wait for the new passport to arrive and then go renew. I'll be expired for about a month though... EEch...

 

[Pedro]

is your drivers license expired now? if not, get the state ID (2wk turnaround) then renew the DL.

 

[Mark]

I believe, but don't quote me on this, that a US Draft card also works. I think that's what I used when I first got my Maine DL, because like you, my birth certificate is back in Mass. don't ask me why a draft card would be easier, but I happened to have mine in my wallet for some reason.

 

[MAINIAC XV]

My son back in May had to show his birth certificate to renew his license.

 

[MuddyWRX]

They wouldn't give my girlfriend her drivers license because her proof of residency was a Maine State ID. It was issued by the state but it had a P.O. Box and not a physical address. We lived out in the sticks at the time. So even though it was a valid ID issued by the state it was not accepted by the state as proof of residency. Even the DMV personel thought it was stupid, they gave us a couple affadavits that we could fill out to vouch for her residency. Of course all of her info was at our apartment an hour away. That may be an option for you. Another one Ive used is if you register to vote in your town using your physical address and ask them to stamp it with the state seal for a fee (like a couple of bucks) sometimes that is acceptable as it is a state sealed document with your physical address. I know its a legal way to buy guns.

 

[i-wagon]

I use my registration for my car with physical address to renew my license, and my license with physical address to register my car

 

[mikebike357]

is your drivers license expired now? if not, get the state ID (2wk turnaround) then renew the DL.

According to the website... you need 2 documents... So it comes down to passport or birth cert again.

I'm just gonna roll with it. Hopefully my passport will arrive closer to the 4wk processing time rather than the 6wk. Once I have the passport... I'm all set for the next 10 years. My wife lucked out... her license expires in the coming days too but her passport doesn't expire till 2013.

 

[Pedro]

social security card?

 

[mikebike357]

I do have that... signed when I was first old enough to write my name.

 

[inski]

After 9/11 the US found it was easy for anyone to get driver's licenses in Maine, including terrorists. So the states with the easy processes voted to have this proof of citizenship. Your representatives in Augusta voted it in. It was all over the news back then.

 

[katnip]

NH is the same. and be glad you aint a chick. I had to get a copy of my birth certificate AND a copy of my marriage license and that was when my ME license was still valid and I went to get a NH license. they refused to accept a valid license from another state. stupid patriot act!