Unable to renew Mass. US driver's license online

[stargazer9999]

I asked the US consulate here in CM if they can help with license renewals and they said they couldn't assist. They said each state has different rules you have to deal with. No surprise there.

So I tried to renew a Mass. license that expires next month online. It almost seemed to work but then the final message said I would have to go to the local DMV to finished the renewal. The message said it could be because my picture needs to be updated.

The one interesting question they asked was whether I had a license in a different state or country. I truthfully declared both my Thai motorbike and car licenses and supplied the Thai license numbers. I'm wondering if that set off a red flag??

Has anyone successfully renewed a license online in any US state recently or been rejected? I'm curious if you were able to do it online and you also have a Thai driver's license.

[lopburi3]

Florida had stopped when I tried last year - this appears to be a general 9/11 terrorist fallout to help prevent issue of fraudulent identification documents as well as identity theft.

[Jingthing]

Are you claiming to be a resident of Mass.? Did you logon from Thailand? These are big issues for expats who feel they need to maintain that basic US identify proof of a driver's license.

This is one of multiple issues, some generic and some very personal that are persuading me being a long term expat from the US is just too much of a hassle. Things are becoming much more difficult being an American abroad on so many levels.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Jingthing

[lopburi3]

Online Renewals in Florida

Renewing your FL driver's license online is the most convenient option. To be eligible to renew your FL driver's license online, you must meet the following requirements:

Your last driver license renewal was done in person.

[NeverSure]

The last time I renewed my Oregon DL I had to go in person and take a certified copy of my birth certificate. Everyone did. They wanted more proof of residency such as utility bills addressed to me.

Getting a DL is also registering to vote and this was a new law to prove citizenship and residency. If I was a naturalized citizen I would have needed to bring in those documents.

[stargazer9999]

I logged on from Thailand using a VPN indicating I'm in the USA. I think I couldn't get on their system without doing a VPN. It's the same with Social Security's site. My last state of residence was Mass. and that's where I would live if I moved back so it seems like that's where I should keep my license current.

I renewed at the DMV in person five years ago with no hassles. I believe the problem has to do with doing it online and perhaps indicating Thai licenses. A friend who lives in Mass. renewed online recently with no problem.

I don't plan to visit the States for a while so that's why this is a drag. I'm not sure how easy or hard it will be to go to Mass. DMV with my expired license and renew it in person. If it's easy then I'm not too worried. Renewing online would have been nice.

[stargazer9999]

When I went in person five years ago they wanted to see my Social Security card. No requests for utility bills. Things might have change and obviously procedures vary from state to state.

[Jingthing]

I reckon in many states you will be required to sign a statement saying you are a resident. I'm sure many many expats lie. Because they feel they need the license. Thorny stuff.

[NancyL]

Next time you plan to go to the U.S. you could get an International Drivers License here in Thailand that would be accepted in the U.S. Some have reported that they're able to rent cars in the U.S. with just their TDL when they're visiting, too, but personally I wouldn't risk it when it's so easy to get an IDL.

[Jingthing]

When I went in person five years ago they wanted to see my Social Security card. No requests for utility bills. Things might have change and obviously procedures vary from state to state.

There is a national tightening up. Real ID.

[stargazer9999]

NancyL,

Where do you get an International Driver's license here in Thailand? I never tried before but it sounds like a good idea to have one. My US license expires next month and I still have at least three years left on the Thai licenses.

I had to show my US license to get my first Thai licenses if I recall correctly. Do you need to show it again to renew your Thai licenses??

[LivinLOS]

If you have the Thai 5 year you can apply at the hang dong office for the IDP.. It used to have to come from bangkok (but submit papers here wait a couple of weeks) but I heard thats been decentralized.

I also had a florida license, issues late 90s.. Got lost around early 2000s.. Dont think it can be replaced without physically going to Florida is what I was told a long time back.

[flare]

Has anyone successfully renewed a license online in any US state recently or been rejected? I'm curious if you were able to do it online and you also have a Thai driver's license

I renewed my NY drivers license last month. I used the mail-in option, and it was extremely easy- the only thing I had to do was find a local doctor to administer an eye test and sign/stamp the enclosed form (I thought it might be an issue, but it was no problem at all). There were no questions regarding a license from another country (I have both Thai car and bike licenses) so it wasn't applicable. They used the same picture that was on my previous license, so that was no hassle either. I checked the NY DMV website first, and there was a section specifically with information for people who live overseas and can't show up in person for a renewal or eye exam.

[CMBob]

I had to show my US license to get my first Thai licenses if I recall correctly. Do you need to show it again to renew your Thai licenses??

No, you won't....just show them your prior Thai license (although I'm not sure what they would request if there's been a long lapse since a Thai driver's license expired).

As to the OP's question, all or most of the states have tightened up licensing requirements for a lot of reasons....simple verification of identity, being extra careful as to who is allowed to vote in that state (which requires "residency" in the legal sense so asking whether you are licensed in other states raises that question), being extra careful as to whether you're "resident enough" for Medicaid or welfare benefits, and probably just a tinge of the general and mild paranoia since 9/11.

My guess is that the OP hasn't renewed in person in MA for a whole lot of years so the message request he's received is simply a standard message based on age of the license and/or even the age of the driver. In Michigan, where I'm from, I think they require you to come in at least every 7-10 years so they can update your photo. They also require you to come in if you have an unsatisfied ticket out there.

[FolkGuitar]

I've renewed my Vermont driver's license every 5 years since I left the US in 1990. I renewed it three times since 9/11, and always by mail.

The license that they send me doesn't look like the typical US driver's license. It looks like something one could make on their home computer.

It has no photo on it, is just a piece of card stock with all the relevant information on it. In fact, 4 years ago I was in the States,

and was stopped by a VT. State trooper. When I showed him this license, he didn't believe it was real and had to call into his

headquarters and talk with someone there who verified that it was indeed a valid license. One month before it expires, Vermont

send out a renewal form to either be brought into the DMV for a photo license or returned by mail for what I get.

Perhaps Mass can do the same.

[arunsakda]

MA is one of the States choosing not to comply with the so-called ReaL-ID act passed in 2005, the provisions of which would include "proving residence" in the State/Territory of issue.

There are many articles lately about when it will become necessary for residents of non-compliant states having to provide alternate ID, such as Passport, to board domestic flights in the US for example as IDs that don't meet the standards will not be accepted as official identification. Other states and territories are trying to comply and have been given extensions. Last I read it is to Jan 2018. Most Americans do not possess a US passport.

I agree none of this will stop terrorism but opposition to these common sense changes and even the idea of of a "National Identity Card" come from all the usual suspects is rooted in fear and paranoid conspiracies about the US Government crafting a database of the US population and a surveillance state, as if the govt. has not accomplished that already.

Edited March 19, 2016 by arunsakda

[JMWPACIFIC]

I did my wife's online in CA 2 years ago.

[ubonjoe]

I checked on renewing my Texas license a few years ago. It had to be done by mail and was going to have to get a international bank draft to pay for it. Decided to not bother with it,

[gk10002000]

There are at least two things going on. 1: After some length of time ~ 10 years in FL my state I think, you have to go to get your photo updated. Nothing bad, just inconvenient. 2: The TSA has stated it will enforce its "Real ID act next year. And the states that are confirming with that, Florida was one, require you to show up in person to get the new license. In addition, having just done this in my state of Florida I had to provide two recent bill receipts with my name and address on them. Luckily I brought three because one of them was 55 days old. I pay my car insurance every six months so the DMV would NOT accept that. They said it had to be within 30 days. I said, well the website says nothing about that, and this particular bill. But you won't win any argument with the DMV.

Bottom line, check the details and fine print before you go so that your trip is not wasted. I had flown from San Diego CA where I was working on a contract back to Palm Beach Florida to get my License renewed and the trip almost didn't work out.

GK

[gk10002000]

Florida had stopped when I tried last year - this appears to be a general 9/11 terrorist fallout to help prevent issue of fraudulent identification documents as well as identity theft.

Yes. New or renewed FL driver licenses have to be done in person, and bring two recent bills (within 30 days). TSA Real ID act thing. You will get a Gold Star on your FL license. I think the Gold Star is a terrible idea, because those of you familiar with world history might remember the gold star Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany. Anyway, I recently did my FL renewal and had to go in person.

[Langsuan Man]

I logged on from Thailand using a VPN indicating I'm in the USA. I think I couldn't get on their system without doing a VPN. It's the same with Social Security's site. My last state of residence was Mass. and that's where I would live if I moved back so it seems like that's where I should keep my license current.

I renewed at the DMV in person five years ago with no hassles. I believe the problem has to do with doing it online and perhaps indicating Thai licenses. A friend who lives in Mass. renewed online recently with no problem.

I don't plan to visit the States for a while so that's why this is a drag. I'm not sure how easy or hard it will be to go to Mass. DMV with my expired license and renew it in person. If it's easy then I'm not too worried. Renewing online would have been nice.

You have four years to renew your MA license in person per the MA DMV web site:

If your Massachusetts driver license is valid, you can renew it:

• Up to 1 year before it expires.
• Within 4 years after it expires.

But your problem lies with the photo for the license, not where you apply from online

In PA I can renew online and they will send me a temporary license "photo card" which is good for 60 days to allow time to go to a DMV office and have your picture taken. There are some states that have your photo in a database and they will allow a full license renewal online

[lopburi3]

Florida had stopped when I tried last year - this appears to be a general 9/11 terrorist fallout to help prevent issue of fraudulent identification documents as well as identity theft.

Yes. New or renewed FL driver licenses have to be done in person, and bring two recent bills (within 30 days). TSA Real ID act thing. You will get a Gold Star on your FL license. I think the Gold Star is a terrible idea, because those of you familiar with world history might remember the gold star Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany. Anyway, I recently did my FL renewal and had to go in person.

Florida allows one renewal on-line currently - after that you must appear. As I had been renewing by mail and online for 23 years did not qualify. Would not have had any bills to do in person.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I did my wife's online in CA 2 years ago.

I got a new CA driver's license in person just before I moved to Thailand, reflecting a new residence address in the U.S. Then, more than two years ago, I got an invitation from CA to renew my license online when it was heading toward expiration, which I did successfully.

Whether I'll be allowed to do a second consecutive online renewal when my current license expires in a couple years, I'm going to wait to find out.

Before my last in-person renewal in CA, when I was still living there full time, they'd been renewing my license automatically without having to go in person for many cycles, and they'd just kept re-using the same increasingly old photo from prior licenses each time.

Edited March 20, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I checked on renewing my Texas license a few years ago. It had to be done by mail and was going to have to get a international bank draft to pay for it. Decided to not bother with it,

Joe, what forms of payment was TX willing to accept for mailed DL renewals?

Surely, an international bank draft wasn't the only method available with them for mail-in renewals.

[lopburi3]

I checked on renewing my Texas license a few years ago. It had to be done by mail and was going to have to get a international bank draft to pay for it. Decided to not bother with it,

Joe, what forms of payment was TX willing to accept for mailed DL renewals?

Surely, an international bank draft wasn't the only method available with them for mail-in renewals.

We accept checks or money orders payable to Texas DPS.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, not sure about other states, but CA DL's seem to be typically issued for 5-year validity periods.

[mesquite]

I checked on renewing my Texas license a few years ago. It had to be done by mail and was going to have to get a international bank draft to pay for it. Decided to not bother with it,

Joe, what forms of payment was TX willing to accept for mailed DL renewals?

Surely, an international bank draft wasn't the only method available with them for mail-in renewals.

Though Texas had a mail-in renewal, I found a web renewal easier to do. I was able to use my credit card. The renewal was for six years. However, the second time I had to go in person. Every 12 years you have to do it in person so they can take a new pic.

[bendejo]

DMVs, generally, seem to be more keen on eye exams at renewal time when it comes to those of us in our middle years.

[Langsuan Man]

DMVs, generally, seem to be more keen on eye exams at renewal time when it comes to those of us in our middle years.

Once again it is entirely State dependent

I thought so too, after an eye exam for cataracts with an ophthalmologist who gave me my first distance RX. But when I went to renew my PA license I thought surely I would have to take an eye test and have my license annotated requiring that I wear glasses when driving. But no, they just took my picture and sent me on my way

The only advantage that my 67 years gave me was that I could get a one, or two year license, instead of the normal 5 year one. When I joked at the DMV that they were giving us oldsters that option because we might die before a 5 year license expired the clerk explained that the option was because many seniors just can't afford the fee for a 5 year license but can afford a 1 or 2 year license

Must admit I was embarrassed that I never considered that as the reason

[bendejo]

[...]

When I joked at the DMV that they were giving us oldsters that option because we might die before a 5 year license expired

May have been embarrassing in this case, but quite logical. AARP is definitely guilty of this: when it gets around renewal time I get a lot of offers for discounts on multi-year memberships.

A few years ago I was back in the states with my old CA license long expired, and looked into getting a new license in PA. They had the toughest residency requirements of all the states I looked into, and I figured it had to do with the all those new voter ID laws in recent years. I never before heard of this choice of expiry that you mention, but despite the answer the clerk gave you I suspect at it's core this may be yet another device to keep people from voting -- "sorry, we can't accept an expired license as voter ID." You may recall it was a GOP politician from PA that boasted he managed to get the strict voter ID laws passed as a step to keep the president from getting re-elected in 2012, the statement was caught on video.