Question: Regarding your article on July 31 about switching from a driver’s license to a state ID, I called the number listed (808-768-9100) and they insisted you must bring in all the documents again since you’re forfeiting your REAL ID driver’s license. They said if it’s your first time applying for a state ID, you must bring in the paperwork. If you renew your state ID, you don’t have to bring in. It seems like this has been a very consistent topic because it is really not clear. It’s difficult to dig up all the documents again if we don’t need to. We shouldn’t have to bring in the documents if we already have the gold star on our driver’s license. If it’s true we don’t need to bring in all the documents again, the employees answering the phone need to know that. Sorry to bring this up yet again.
Answer: We’re grateful that you shared your experience, causing us to circle back to Honolulu’s Department of Customer Services, which it turns out gave us wrong information for the earlier column. Harold Nedd, CSD spokesperson, has now clarified that unless the applicant holding a REAL ID-compliant Hawaii driver’s license also has a state ID, their state ID application will be treated as an “initial application” and their documents will be required.
So what the call center agent told you is correct.
It’s no longer common to hold both a full Hawaii driver’s license and state ID, because of rules that took effect in 2018, but some people remain in this category; they could renew the state ID to add the gold star, and relinquish the license, generally without having to resubmit their documents.
For the July 31 column, Nedd had told us that someone with a valid, REAL ID-compliant (“gold star”) Hawaii driver’s license could switch to a gold-star state ID without resubmitting documents verifying their identity, legal U.S. presence and Hawaii residency, as long as valid documents they had submitted to get the driver’s license were on file with the city. That’s not the case for initial state ID applications.
As you indicated, we get this question a lot, especially from older readers who no longer drive and don’t want to renew their driver’s license every two years just to keep a form of government-issued identification. The state ID is good for eight years.
Hawaii’s state IDs and driver’s licenses use the same application and are processed by the same department, but records are not connected for seamless transfer of the gold star from one credential to another. Improvements are planned.
“We have been relying on outdated technology that only allows state identification cards and driver’s licenses to be stored by their respective numbers. The existing system is not equipped to store state identification cards and driver’s licenses by the names of the individual cardholders. As a result, we have not been able to associate a single cardholder with more than one particular driver’s license or state identification card,” Nedd said in an email Friday.
“The good news is that we are taking immediate steps to significantly upgrade the technology for documenting and storing the information processed for state identification cards and driver’s licenses. Once the upgrades to the system are completed within the next 18 months, there will be no need for cardholders to bring in their documents if they are switching from a driver’s license to a state ID — or vice versa — as long as the documents in our system meet the requirements for any new credential,” he said.
After we followed up on your question, CSD updated its website to specify how to switch from a gold-star license to a gold-star ID. The web page at https://www8.honolulu.gov/csd/real-id/ says:
“You can switch from the REAL ID-compliant driver’s license to a state ID, but you can have only one REAL ID-compliant card and one will have to be surrendered to get the other.
“To switch your REAL ID status from a Hawaii driver’s license to a state ID, make an appointment to visit one of Oahu’s five driver licensing centers and bring the following documents for this initial state ID application:
“One proof of legal presence
“Two proofs of physical Hawaii address
“Any connecting documents to prove name change
“For a complete list of acceptable documents, click 808ne.ws/dmvlist
“If you wish to renew your valid Hawaii state ID issued before Jan. 16, 2018, your documents may already be on file. Please call 808-768-9100 to check.”
Q: Is the gun buyback still happening on Saturday at Aloha Stadium? Can guns just be taken there with no ammunition without being wrapped or in a box?
A: Yes, this amnesty event hosted by the state Department of Law Enforcement is scheduled for Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Aloha Stadium’s lower parking lot. Transport instructions on the event flier say the “unloaded firearm must be in a container/box in vehicle trunk.” Foodland gift cards will be issued for working or nonworking firearms. Read details at 808ne.ws/3YP7SJY.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
