Residents navigate confusion and long lines as Real ID deadline nears

Mark Jones visited the Real ID Supercenter in downtown Chicago early Saturday morning, only to find it closed, leaving him frustrated, out nearly $50 in parking and still without the updated identification he’d been trying to secure for weeks.

“I got up at a quarter to 6 a.m. and came all the way downtown, only to find out the place was closed,” said Jones, 29, of Bellwood, who works for American Airlines and takes online classes at Grand Canyon University, where he's majoring in educational studies. “There was a line full of people, some with their children, only to find out the location was not open. It is just inconsiderate because we are trying to meet this deadline so our lives won’t be interrupted, and this Real ID is going to take the place of a lot of things.”

The Real ID Supercenter at 191 N. Clark St., which opened in March to help address the increased demand ahead of a May 7 federal deadline, is open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. But according to Jones, a phone representative told him the downtown facility would be open for Saturday walk-ins.

The state has expanded DMV hours on Saturdays at 18 locations and launched the downtown supercenter to manage the surge of applicants, but confusion over requirements and what facilities to go to have left residents scrambling ahead of the May 7 deadline.

A spokesperson with the Illinois secretary of state didn't immediately return a request for comment.

After discovering the Clark Street location was closed, Jones drove to the DMV on 99th Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, where he was told walk-ins wouldn’t begin until 12:30 p.m.

Jones then went to the Chicago West location on Lexington Street, where a crowd of about 100 people were waiting in line Saturday morning. His driver’s license expires just before his 30th birthday next week, and he said his work badge can’t be renewed without a valid ID. “This is affecting my livelihood,” he said. “I had to take off work just to stand in these lines .” By 1 p.m. Saturday, Jones confirmed he had gotten his Real ID.

The Chicago West site is one of 18 DMVs where hours have been expanded to help meet demand for Real IDs. The hours were expanded at the designated facilities to stem the long lines that have formed outside DMVs across the Chicago area this year.

In March, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias launched the downtown supercenter to process the applications from thousands of residents seeking the updated identification.

The secretary of state is advising residents to make sure they really need a Real ID before getting in line. Real IDs will still be issued after May 7 — and officials urge residents to wait to apply until well beyond then unless one is really needed.

Real IDs aren’t required to drive. Standard state driver’s licenses and ID cards will continue serving as proof of citizenship and valid identification after May 7. After that date, those planning to board airplanes will be required to present a security-enhanced, star-emblazoned Real ID or another approved form of identification, like a passport.

“The demand is unprecedented due largely to people thinking they need a Real ID when they don’t,” Giannoulias said in March. “There’s a good chance you don’t need one, and if you don’t get it by May 7 it’s not the end of the world.”

While waiting in the same line as Jones at the Chicago West location, Kia Calhoun, 46, a Humboldt Park resident who works in insurance, voiced similar frustrations.

“It’s crazy,” she said. “Why don’t they have more people to facilitate this, to make this a quicker and easier process for all of us?”

Calhoun said the experience has been stressful for full-time workers like her. “It’s hard for a lot of us hardworking people who work Monday through Friday who can’t get out here and have to get here on this one single day,” she said. “Then they end up spending their entire day waiting and possibly not being able to get it because of a minor infraction, like not having one piece of mail.”

Tiffany Hunter, 42, a police officer who lives in the Rosemoor neighborhood, was back in line for the second time. She said when she first attempted to get her Real ID, she discovered when she got there that she needed additional documentation, including her birth certificate and Social Security card.

Hunter said she waited in line during her first visit to the Midlothian location even though she had an appointment. This time, she brought someone with her who has a disability. “I’m standing in line for both of us today,” she said, noting that she didn’t want to risk losing her spot in line to ask a representative if there was an accommodation for those with disabilities. “I just said I’ll wait.”

Hunter said more clarity and consistency are needed. “Two things they could probably do better are improving timeliness with appointments and being very clear on what documents they do and do not accept so people don’t have to come to the walk-ins,” she said.

To help residents figure out which documents they need to bring, the secretary of state has a Real ID interactive checklist on its website. After filling out the checklist, the website generates a list of the documents, which need to be hard copies.

Tony Reynolds, 63, drove in from Moline and took the day off work hoping to handle both his Real ID and his driver’s license reinstatement but was told that Saturday’s services were for Real ID only.

"What you do at one facility, you should be able to do at all of them,” said Reynolds, who works as a warehouse coordinator.

Reynolds said that trying to handle reinstatement paperwork through the phone or email has been a dead end. “You hear a recording and stay on the line for two hours,” he said. “Trying to talk to people on the phone is terrible. And using the website is terrible, too.”

To prepare for his visit, Reynolds had to pay $49 to order a copy of his birth certificate, only for it to be sent back to the city when no one was home to sign for it. “So I had to come to Chicago to get it,” he said. “You can never find documents when you need them.”

Though he successfully got his Real ID, he’s still waiting on his license reinstatement. “They should have people at each facility who can provide that service so you don’t have to go all over the place.”

Officials have pushed to open more appointment slots and expand walk-in options, but residents say the implementation hasn’t matched the urgency of the deadline.

“I hope this shows city officials and Illinois government that this is an inconvenience to residents,” Jones said. “It's an unnecessary stressful moment.”

Contributing: Mitchell Armentrout