As the REAL ID deadline approaches, how can Bay Area residents apply?

SAN JOSE — Timothy Morigeau sat in the shade of a tree Friday morning outside a packed Department of Motor Vehicles as he approached his third hour of waiting to get his REAL ID before next month’s federal enforcement deadline.

Morigeau, a 39-year-old resident of San Jose, had arrived at the DMV around 9 a.m. and waited close to two hours for his appointment before finding out he needed to bring the physical copies of documents he had already submitted online – meaning he had to return home and come back. At almost noon, he said he still had about two hours to wait.

“It’s frustrating because we’re in Silicon Valley. What’s the point of you still (needing) paper documents? Most people don’t get paper bills anymore,” Morigeau said. “Luckily I’m able to do it, but not everyone can just go home and come back.”

As a key May 7 deadline approaches — marking the requirement to have a REAL ID-compliant state drivers license or identification card in order to fly domestically — people across the Bay Area are flooding DMVs to apply for the upgrade. For residents who have yet to apply, the process involves at least three documents, an online application and a trip to the DMV.

However, you don’t need to panic: The May 7 deadline marks only the day when the Transportation Security Administration will begin to enforce the requirement to have a REAL ID or another federally approved document, such as a passport, to fly domestically, DMV spokesperson Ronald Ongtoaboc said – meaning that those who already have a valid passport or no impending flight plans do not need to rush to apply for the ID.

“The DMV wants people to know that May 7 is NOT a deadline to get a REAL ID – that’s only the date that the TSA will begin to enforce the federal requirement (for air travel),” Ongtoaboc said. “Californians who still need to upgrade to a REAL ID, but already possess a federally approved document, such as a passport, can comfortably wait to upgrade to a REAL ID when their driver’s license is due for renewal.”

Anyone who is a U.S. citizen or legal resident is eligible to apply for a REAL ID, Ongtoaboc said.

The California DMV has experienced an “anticipated increase” in the number of people seeking REAL IDs as next month’s deadline looms, Ongtoaboc said. To help with the influx of applications, some DMV offices – including in Pleasanton and Fremont – will be opening an hour earlier at 7 a.m. on weekdays excluding Wednesdays to provide REAL ID appointments through June 27.

In order to apply for a REAL ID, Californians must first fill out an online form and submit their documents on the DMV’s website at dmv.ca.gov, Ongtoaboc said. Applicants will need to know their social security number.

The required documents include one document that proves identity and includes full name and date of birth, such as a U.S. passport or U.S. birth certificate, and two documents that prove residency, such as home utility bills or bank records, according to the DMV. Each document must include the applicant’s full name. If an applicant’s name has changed, a legal name change document such as a marriage certificate or adoption papers is also required.

The DMV has an interactive checklist to select which sets of documents fulfill the requirements. Applicants must then bring their physical documents to a DMV location to finish the application process, which can take as little as 15 minutes, Ongtoaboc said. The DMV recommends making an appointment to reduce the wait time.

It takes about two weeks to receive a REAL ID after submitting the required documents at the DMV to receive the card, Ongtoaboc said, noting that the processing time is the same as a standard ID card. The DMV posts up-to-date processing times on its website, he added.

On Friday morning, DMVs in several locations around the Bay Area were packed with people – many clutching colorful folders of documents to get their REAL IDs. In San Jose, wait times stretched into the hours.

Mai, a 40-year-old resident of San Jose who declined to share her last name, took a day off work to get her REAL ID Friday morning because she has a flight in June and missed an appointment Thursday that she made two months in advance. She had been waiting for an hour and a half.

G.H., a 50-year-old resident of San Jose who shared only his initials, added that the process was “pretty good.”

“I pushed it off because the last deadline got pushed off,” he said. He added that all the online application does is “expedite you getting the ticket,” but that it is still “a cumbersome process.”

“You don’t really seem to get much for your due diligence of doing the work first, and then you show up and you get hammered with, ‘I’m 100 numbers away,’ ” G.H. said.

At the DMV office on Diamond Boulevard in Concord, every chair inside the building was occupied amid signs that announced to the public all the services – including Real ID renewal – with which DMV staffers no longer assist. The crowd awaiting an appointment spilled outside onto the front lawn area, and others even sat in their cars.

“I don’t even wanna get started with this,” said Javy Hernandez, a man in his 40s from Martinez, as he sat behind the driver’s seat of a pickup truck underneath the shade of a tree. “There’s so many documents, so many things you need. Hopefully, I’ve got all the right ones. You never know anymore.”

On a bench, Sara Born, 70, of Pleasant Hill, said she was hopeful her appearance would be the capper on a days-long process that she called “clunky.”

“I got through all of it, but each part of it takes time to navigate before you get the green light to come to the DMV office itself,” she said. “I consider myself very knowledgeable with online stuff. I’ve been involved in it for years. But if you’re not real knowledgeable — those people are going to get frustrated with the process and may quit.”

Staff writer Rick Hurd contributed to this report.