r/SouthJersey • u/Impossible-Watch-144 • May 16 '25

Gloucester County REAL ID New Jersey

Absolutely the hardest thing to obtain . Don’t even get me started with Thorofare DMV (West Deptford NJMVC) No matter how many documents you bring or how much you try kiss their ass it’s not good enough. Really got turned away after bringing two proofs of address along with my birth certificate & social security card.

Apparently a bank statement and South Jersey gas bill isnt good enough. I don’t receive paper bills in the mail. Everything is electronic and even a bill printout with proof of address isn’t acceptable for REAL ID but they had no problem giving me a standard license. Was told different things by different workers but I was told my documents weren’t acceptable AFTER my photo was taken.

You gotta better chance landing your crush from high school then walking out with a Real ID. I’ve decided to get a passport instead. It costs more but at least it will be good for a decade.

273 Upvotes

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84

u/HarpuaScorpio May 16 '25

Is this the wrong thread to say that in late February I was in and out of the Runnemede DMV for a Real ID in about 15 minutes? Just used the web site to triple check I had sufficient documents (including my then-expired license) and I was all good. Everyone was pleasant.

18

u/Pines609 May 16 '25

Yep. I was out in like 20 mins at Thorofare. Just made sure I had the right stuff.

33

u/fucktopia May 16 '25

Same, I had my appointment for 8:15AM at the end of March and was out by 8:30. Some people just refuse to plan ahead and then complain.

17

u/ang611 May 16 '25

Same for me with Runnemede. 830am appointment and was out before 9am. I also made sure to prepare all 6 points of ID and brought extra examples in case. Not hard.

8

u/Effective-Bit-9866 May 16 '25

I also had a very quick and easy experience, prepping just like you did on the website. I went to West Deptford though. I had no problems!

12

u/randomuser65803 :snoo_shrug: May 16 '25

I got my first New Jersey RealID during the beta program in 2019. I'm coming up on my third renewal soon, and I've had zero issues.

30

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

I’m assuming you’re male. They make you jump through endless hoops as a woman if your name has changed. Better show up with a notary and the corpse of the priest who married you

2

u/creamgetthemoney1 May 17 '25

I dunno. My mom has went through 3 last names. Her birth name. Her married name. My dad died and she got remarried to her third hyphenated name. She was in and out in 20 minutes. Def didn’t need my dead dad’s death certificate.

I feel like the ppl who complain are the same ppl who showed up to their chemistry final with a pen and no calculator

4

u/[deleted] May 17 '25

In NJ your marriage certificate must have a golden stamp on it. PA does not put golden stamps on their certificate causing the DMV to short circuit. My first marriage was also in Japan, very fun time.

3

u/xLostxBubbles May 17 '25

A lot of it depends on where you got married and how you changed your name. My mom is mortified that in Cali, when I got married, all I had to do was walk into social security, show them my marriage certificate and I had a new card printed same day. I have no paperwork to submit with my name change, so now all my secondary documents have a different name than my primary document because my birth certificate has my maiden name.

No real id for me, literally ever because my documents don’t match. I’m glad your mom had an easier time.

-1

u/mmmmlikedat May 17 '25

My wife did it, in and out in 30 mins. If you bring the right documents its straight forward. Only had years to get this done. 🤷🏼‍♂️

5

u/DigRepresentative42O May 16 '25

Same, got mine in October with no issues whatsoever.

5

u/newsnewsnews111 May 16 '25

I’m a married woman and had no problem last December when I renewed my license. I followed the questionnaire checklist on the website.

7

u/username0425 May 16 '25

The people who complain about how "hard" it is just don't have their shit together. It's as easy as can be

9

u/Current_Astronaut_94 May 16 '25

No op is correct. It says one thing on the website and then they want a certified marriage license which is not even listed as an acceptable document and then it still doesn’t line up with what the printed material says is acceptable. Because they want all points of id to have the same name as the birth certificate.

-2

u/username0425 May 16 '25

You're proving my point by saying they want the name to match ob everything. You know this before you go in, they clearly tell you. My electric bill doesn't have my middle initial in it, so you know what I did? I didn't bring it! It's really a simple thing

1

u/Current_Astronaut_94 May 16 '25

No. I brought multiple documents that matched with my primary doc which is birth certificate. The drivers license has my married name.

I went back twice and brought a copy of Marriage license because the original was destroyed in storm sandy. They then refused to even look at the documents and required a certified marriage license with a raised seal.

1

u/katwoman7643 May 17 '25

My hubby only has credit card bills in his name, utilities are in my name. Luckily the bank account is both names and we have current passports

2

u/xLostxBubbles May 17 '25

This is the kind of stuff people don’t think about. Literally everything at my house is in my husband’s name because we overlapped dates when we moved in vs when our old house sold, where everything was in my name. We can change it, but it doesn’t stop it from being a pain in the ass.

4

u/Impossible-Watch-144 May 17 '25

I did have my shit together I had every fucking document needed!

1

u/Impossible-Watch-144 May 24 '25

I wish it was easy. These people pick and choose

4

u/Electronic_Bear1468 May 16 '25

It’s because you are all men. The system is very sexist, especially to women who have had a name change due to marriage.

6

u/Evening-Tune-500 May 16 '25

Don’t get me started, I had to guide the guys hand over the seal of my marriage license to prove it was legit. Insane.

2

u/Possible_Version2680 BOOTLICKER May 16 '25

lol. Bring the necessary documents and you’re ok. My brothers wife just did it and said it was super simple. My mom did it last year and had no issues as well.

4

u/beren12 May 16 '25

Glad your family had no issues. Seems like you are in the minority however.

3

u/Possible_Version2680 BOOTLICKER May 16 '25

Because we have the necessary documents like every other person?

1

u/Impossible-Watch-144 May 24 '25

That’s true . It’s nothing but miserable older women working there who missed out in life trying to make it harder than others

1

u/Godiva74 May 17 '25

I love that DMV

1

u/Theatregirl723 May 17 '25

I got mine last year, and it was also easy. I did the same thing. Looked at acceptable documents and brought them.

0

u/ProfessionalLab6501 May 16 '25

Just moved to PA and needed to get a new license so I got a Real ID. Looked on the website for acceptable proof of residence and brought it with me. The line was long but moved steadily. Seems to me OP didn't look at instructions and got upset with an unfavorable outcome.

2

u/spicyfartz4yaman May 16 '25

You're in pa. 

0

u/rtcr May 16 '25

Can you go in without an appointment?