Thursday, November 4, 2010
Last updated 10:22 p.m. PT
Starting next week, if you want a new driver's license and don't have a Social Security number, you'll have to bring proof of state residency.
The change is part of a crackdown on ID scams by the Department of Licensing, which was plagued earlier this year by an alleged crime ring that sold licenses to undocumented immigrants. The ring supposedly included a DOL employee in Bellevue.
Washington currently asks applicants for proof of identity and a Social Security number. If someone doesn't have a Social Security number, the department allows an applicant to declare Washington residency in an affidavit.
As of Nov. 8, those affidavits won't be sufficient. Anyone without an Social Security number will have to show proof of residency, such as a utility bill or car-insurance policy card.
"This is going to go a big step further. It's going to make it much more difficult to engage in fraud at the counter," said Tony Sermonti, a spokesman for the Department of Licensing.
He said the department will verify the documents while issuing applicants a piece of paper that authorizes them to drive for 60 days. That's different from the current temporary license, which looks like the real thing and is generally valid for ID purposes.
"For many of the people that engage in this fraud, this piece of paper would essentially be worthless to them," Sermonti said.
"So we expect that this move will really clamp down on the flow of people coming here to get a Washington license fraudulently."
He said the changes are a continuation of the department's efforts to stop licensing fraud. Sermonti didn't have figures on ID scams, but said the number of people saying they don't have a Social Security number had risen in recent years.
Of the state's 20,000 monthly applications for a new license, about 20 percent have no social security number. "It's a big number, and it's increasing," Sermonti said.
About three weeks ago, the department began applying its facial recognition program to all licenses. That's a program that studies the mathematical proportions of people's faces and flags licenses with similar images.
Previously it was used only for "enhanced" driver's licenses that allow people to travel to Canada and Mexico without a passport.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.
No comments:
Post a Comment