STAR ID deadline looming in 2014

Source: Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.self storageDec. 27--There is less than a year left for most Alabama residents to obtain a new form of identification that will allow people to take domestic flights without a passport.Starting Dec. 1, 2014, regulations will go into effect that will require everyone born after Dec. 1, 1964, to have a STAR ID or an up-to-date passport to board a plane for a domestic flight.People born before that date are not completely off the hook because they will need to obtain the new ID card by Dec. 1, 2017.Sgt. Steve Jarrett, an Alabama State Trooper spokesman, decided to go ahead and get his not long before Christmas.He is in the minority, however, as only 6,529 of the state's about 3.8 million driver's license holders have obtained their STAR ID, which stands for Secure, Trusted and Reliable Identification.The new ID cards are required under the REAL-ID Act of 2005, a federal law passed as a security response to acts of terrorism.STAR ID is Alabama's version of the REAL ID and will make the state compliant with the law.Jarrett said his driver's license was up for renewal anyway, so he decided to go ahead and round up the documentation he needed for the STAR ID.It only took Jarrett about 15 minutes to receive the ID when he applied at the Department of Public Safety's driver's license examining office on Coliseum Boulevard in Montgomery.迷利倉he harder part for some people might be rounding up the documentation.Everyone applying will need a document such as a birth certificate that verifies their identity and date of birth, a document such as a Social Security card or W-2 tax form to verify their Social Security number and a document verifying their principal address such as a utility bill.Alabama Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Robyn Bradley Litchfield said it might seem like a hassle to provide those documents, but "it is going to be a bigger hassle to fly without it."Litchfield said getting the word out is important to the department because there are so many in the state who still have never heard of the new identification, even though the department launched its pilot program in 2011.Also, once people have provided the extra documentation, renewing a license won't be any more difficult than it is now, she said.In addition to being needed to board domestic flights, the STAR ID also will be needed to enter certain regulated federal facilities.The new ID will look almost exactly the same as the current Alabama driver's license, with the only difference being a gold star in the corner.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) Visit the Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) at .montgomeryadvertiser.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉