How long does it take to get a Real ID in Missouri? My journey at 2 KC-area DMVs

The day of reckoning is upon us. The sins of our past have finally caught up to us, and it’s time for us to pay the price.

That’s right. We’re talking about getting a Real ID to replace your driver’s license.

After 20 years of extended deadlines, only Real IDs (licenses with a gold star on the top right), passports or other forms of federal documentation will let you board airplanes in the United States and enter certain government facilities, like federal courthouses and military bases starting Wednesday, May 7. However, people can use non-Real ID cards to drive, buy alcohol and vote.

Without one of these IDs, if you go to Kansas City International Airport after May 7 and try to board a flight, you “can expect to face delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The Transportation Security Administration states that flyers ages 18 and older without the accepted identification will undergo additional security procedures, like sharing their name and current address. You could even be subject to additional screening, and it applies to everyone, even those with TSA PreCheck.

Less than half of Missourians and 85% of Kansans had their Real IDs weeks before the deadline, state officials told The Star in late April. Those numbers are sure to have risen over the past few weeks and based on the activity outside driver’s license bureaus in the Kansas City area Tuesday, May 6.

I was part of the half that didn’t have their Real ID, since I have a passport and can use that to fly. However, my job sent me to try and get one the day before it went into effect and to check out the sights and sounds of the offices as people waited to get theirs. The flexibility to do such an errand on a work day is a luxury many residents getting their IDs don’t have.

I’m used to long lines at the DMV, but Tuesday was unlike anything I’d ever seen. And I almost left without getting the one thing I was on assignment for.

Here’s what the experience of getting a Real ID was like and what you can expect to happen over the coming weeks.

Long lines at the DMV

The closest DMV to me is located at 1161 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd., and I got there around 10 a.m. with everything I thought I needed to get a Real ID:

• A certified U.S. birth certificate, up-to-date passport, resident card, employment authorization card, naturalization certificate or consular report of birth abroad.
• Proof of your Social Security number — which can be your Social Security card, tax forms or any formal documentation with the number present.
• Two proofs of your address in the last year, like a lease agreement or a utility bill.

It didn’t matter. The clerk said when I approached the desk that at least 150 people were waiting, some of whom had been waiting since the office opened at 8 a.m. and had been in line even longer. She suggested I travel to the Blue Springs license office, 2402 MO-7, which is around a 30-minute drive.

Among those who were able to get in line the Cleaver office were Mike and Lena Bolinger from Brookside, who each got their numbers at 9:30 a.m. when there were 122 people ahead of them. The father and daughter are getting their Real ID for travel purposes; Lena Bolinger’s headed to Colorado for college and Mike Bolinger travels for work on occasion.

The Bolingers each received a ticket with a number, showing their place in line. When that number was called and highlighted on the board behind the clerk’s desks, it was their time to get their Real ID. There was no way to find out when that number would be called, adding a lot of anxiety and fear of missing their moment to patrons.

“You can’t lose your ticket,” Lena Bolinger said.

Cutting down on the travel times was a big motivation for both of them to get their Real IDs. They have passports, but don’t want to carry those around all the time.

“What I didn’t realize was this Real ID thing has been out there for 20 years and now they finally have a deadline,” Mike Bolinger said. “But I also read that you can still fly even without it, they’ll just put you in different lines that might take longer.”

There was also no way of knowing exactly how many people were waiting at the Cleaver DMV. No seats were open inside, and there was a long line of people standing and waiting outside the office. Quite a few chose to wait in their cars and some, like Mike and Lena Bolinger, opted to leave and come back later, hoping their numbers hadn’t been called.

Off to Blue Springs I went.

Remember to have everything you need for a Real ID

A quick pit stop at home and at 11:30 a.m., I got in line at the Blue Springs license office. It’s a bigger waiting area inside, but a lot of people were going in and out. I didn’t realize why until I peeked at the computer screen near the entrance.

Missouri DMVs are independently run by third parties and, because of that, have different setups and procedures. This DMV allows visitors to sign up and get a place in line virtually.

By signing up with your phone number, you’ll periodically receive texts telling you your place in line. For people getting their Real ID, they would sign up under the “Drivers License” category, and at 11:40 a.m., there were 102 people ahead of me.

I figured I had some time, so I took a seat inside and observed. Many were here for their Real IDs, but some were here for other purposes like renewing their tags. Others were also getting their first-ever driver’s license, which adds to the wait.

A patron getting new license plates said they waited for two hours only to be told they were missing a piece of information. This prompted me to check to make sure I had everything needed for a Real ID, and it turns out, I was also missing a piece of information.

I recently moved into a house with my girlfriend and hadn’t switched my address information yet, so I needed to go back to Kansas City to pick up two proofs of my address in the last year, which would be the address of my brother’s house. I had other pieces of identification, like my birth certificate, Social Security card, passport, driver’s license and W-2 form, but you can never be too safe.

The line said there were 92 people ahead of me at 12:08 p.m., 82 people at 12:35 p.m. and later 72 people at 1:05 p.m., when I realized I didn’t have everything I needed, so I figured I had time to drive 30 minutes back and forth before my name was called. The journey continues.

Scoring the Real ID

The thing about having a brother is that sometimes they aren’t reliable. Love him to death, but where was he when I needed him the most?

There were now 55 people when I got to his house at 1:36 p.m., so the fear of missing out was starting to get to me. No one answered the door, so I decided to kill some time and go back to the Cleaver DMV to check out the scene.

There were fewer people waiting outside, but I saw Mike and Lena Bolinger talking to Andrea Cady, who joined the queue at 2 p.m. and had No. 78. Cady lives in the Volker neighborhood and used some of her paid time off from work to try to get her Real ID, but didn’t seem so hopeful she would make it to the front of the line after seeing how many people were ahead of her.

She moved from Kansas to Missouri recently and is trying to get a Missouri license, but her license also expires soon with her birthday coming up. She had a feeling the pressure of getting a Real ID before the deadline would add to the wait before joining the line.

“I just figured four hours would be enough, taking the afternoon off to be away,” Cady said. “I’m hoping it’s enough and I don’t have to take off more and hope I can get it done in one go.”

Cady wishes more DMVs had an online portal to track where people were in line, like the office in Blue Springs. She feels like she’s stuck for however many hours and if she knew her exact place in line, she’d feel much better going home and relaxing or going on a walk around the neighborhood instead of anxiously lingering around the office.

Speaking of anxiously lingering, the time was now 2:22 p.m. and there were 19 people ahead of me. Lucky for me, my brother was now available, so I quickly went back to his place, grabbed what I needed and set forth, hoping to finish the story.

When I left his house at 2:37 p.m., there were now 11 people ahead of me and when I parked in front of the Blue Springs office at 3:05 p.m, only two people were left.

A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders when my name was called at 3:17 p.m. The clerks only looked at my driver’s license, birth certificate and W-2, which were all the things I originally had with me. I didn’t even need to go back to my former home.

At 3:27 p.m, they voided my current driver’s license, handed me a temporary paper license and said my Real ID will be shipped to my old address in the next seven to 10 days. It took me a total of 5 hours and 27 minutes to get my Real ID, and 2 hours, 56 minutes of that was spent behind the wheel.

I hope my brother lets me know when it gets there.