(Photo not the actual client. Name changed for privacy.)
“Cyneetha,” 83, called JALA’s office for help obtaining a valid ID, as her old identification card was expired, and she was struggling to conduct routine activities without a current ID.
Cyneetha had attempted to renew her FL Driver’s License in 2020, but the DMV required her to produce a birth certificate to issue a REAL ID, and she didn’t have one. Cyneetha was born at home in South Carolina in 1938, and her family did not obtain a birth certificate at the time of the home birth.
Adding to the difficulty of locating her birth information, her parents had interchangeably used her mother’s surname and her father’s surname on many of her records during her childhood. Cyneetha had been trying to resolve the problem for many months without success.
Under the REAL ID Act, which became effective in 2008, proof of birth or naturalization is required. Birth Certificate exceptions have been made for individuals born on or before 1935, but Cyneetha did not qualify for this exception since she was born a few years too late.
Serving as a limited power of attorney on her behalf, JALA Staff Attorney Nikeeta Pal requested all records of Cyneetha’s birth from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control – Vital Statistics Division, which confirmed they had no records of her birth.
Pal then contacted the Tax Collector’s office in Jacksonville, Fla., who advised her that they would be willing to make an exception to the exceptions if Cyneetha could provide certain alternate proofs of identification including tax returns, mail and utilities showing her name, address, and Social Security number. Most importantly, she also had to show proof that South Carolina could not locate any birth records in her name, which Pal had obtained.
Using these supportive documents, Cyneetha was finally able to obtain a valid REAL ID Florida Driver’s License, which should be accepted nationwide. Many routine activities require a valid identification card, including doctor’s visits, local travel, voting and more. So, with her new, valid identification card, Cyneetha can finally participate fully in American society.
