Enhanced driver's licenses available Tuesday to frequent border-crossers
First came the $45 passport card issued by the federal government to people who frequently travel by land or sea between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.
Tuesday, New York will do its part for U. S. border security by making enhanced driver’s licenses — which cost about $30 more than the average $50 license — available to frequent border-crossers.
Officials think the enhanced license, being offered to comply with tighter federal requirements, might also ease congestion at crossings in the Buffalo area because it contains an implanted computer identification chip that will send a radio signal when the person with the license approaches the border checkpoint.
The border agent automatically receives advance access to the data on the license. No other information about the license holder will be on the computer chip.
The licenses are arriving as the federal government is preparing to enforce — beginning June 1 — stricter requirements for entering the United States. The enhanced driver’s license, EDL for short, will make it unnecessary for land and sea travelers returning from Western Hemisphere nations to carry a passport.
While the New York EDL will be good for land and sea travel, air passengers will need a passport, officials emphasize.
The new license will be available at any office of the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Drivers will have to show proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, and also proof of state residency. The DMV’s Web site — www.nysdmv.com — maintains a list of proofs of identification that can be used. The license, which also will be available to nondrivers to use for identification, will resemble current licenses, except for the word “enhanced” on the front and an image of the American flag.
Those applying for the new license will, after having their identification documents scanned into a new computer system to verify authenticity, go through a 10-minute interview or go through a two-step process that involves seeing two DMV agents. The process is intended to ensure that only U. S. citizens and New York residents receive the licenses. The licenses then will take about two weeks to process.
Though the EDL will cost less than a passport, the state is expects the new fees to bring in about $66.4 million in revenue this year for a program that is expected to cost $11.9 million to administer.
