Picture if you will, DMV messes up and does not put an expiration date on your ID.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

You don't realize it till a government office points it out. You go to get a new one but your social security card is so faded that they won't except it.
Now inter the social security administration. Apparently they don't accept a birth certificate to get a replacement card. They only accept one if you're getting a brand new card, as in a whole new number.

Things they will accept that you don't have are:
U.S. passport or passport card (I don't even leave the city for Pete's sake!)

U.S. military ID card (not a vet)

Health insurance or Medicaid card that shows the applicant's name, and:
Photograph, or Age, or Date of birth. (None of mine has my picture)

Certificate of Naturalization or U.S. Citizenship ( yeah, apparently a birth certificate does not count as proof of US citizenship, who would have known!)

Another thing they accept is:
Medical record from a clinic, doctor, or hospital. We do not accept hospital bills, payment receipts, or admission letters. The document must show:
Applicant's name, and
Age or date of birth, and
A treatment date within the last 2 years, and
A signature or stamp from the medical provider.

Now due to your bad health you surely got that in your paperwork! But low and behold! You don't!

So you contact your health provider and they are confused about what paperwork that could be. They are looking into it and will contact you once they find out what exactly the heck the social security administration is talking about.

All this because someone at the DMV screwed up.

[niyad]

2. I am so very sorry for the catch-22 you are experiencing. Hope it resolves soon.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

3. I'm still flabbergasted about the birth certificate thing.

Mine is from the state of Kansas! Deep in the heart of the country for crying out loud!

[Ms. Toad]

5. A birth certificate can be used to establish age and citizenship.

It can't be used to identify you because a birth certificate doesn't establish who you are - only that the person on the birth certificate is a citizen, and is of a certain age. The identification is needed to connect you (the person asking for a replacement card) to the person whose birth certificate you possess (who is a citizen of a particular age).

[Ms. Toad]

4. Do you mean expiration date?

I have not encountered any State ID card which does not include an expiration date (and it is part of a pre-programmed template, so it can't be left off of the actual card).

I would take the list you have recited above to your doctor's office. (A printout from the SS web page would be best.) If your doctor is like mine, they may charge you a fee for paperwork which isn't related to medical treatment.

But - generally - this is the kind of challenge people looking to get a "real ID" for voting run into - and why it is so devastating for democracy. Anyone who doesn't have a current state ID often has a very hard time getting one.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

8. DMV messed up!

And they decided that my social security card is too faded to accept.

And some higher up in the social security administration has decided that a US birth certificate is not good enough to prove citizenship for a replacement card.

I my opinion, it's a total government F up!

[Ms. Toad]

11. As to the social security administration, you are incorrect.

Citizenship

If you have not already established your U.S. citizenship with us, we need to see proof of U.S. citizenship. We can accept only certain documents as proof of U.S. citizenship. These include a U.S. birth certificate or U.S. passport.

Replacement Card

The list of information you recited is needed to prove identity, not citizenship.

[vanlassie]

6. If the DMV made the error, WHY are they not

able to correct it? You must have filled out a form including your birth date at the time of their mistake. Do they not have that form imaged? Make your State fix it!

[Lady Freedom Returns]

9. Because they are a bunch of 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[vanlassie]

15. Request that they correct their error in writing.

They are state employees. You can go up line. Also in writing. State only the facts.

[localroger]

7. A similar situation is why I don't have a Real ID driver's license

So my Louisiana driver's license is stamped NOT FOR FEDERAL ID and eventually won't get me on an airplane. Fortunately I DO have a passport, and even though I had let it lapse when the Real ID fiasco started it was much easier to renew than it was to get the Real ID. The truly hilarious thing is that a passport isn't sufficient ID to get a Real ID, even though I can do everything with the passport I could do with the Real ID driver's license except drive a car, and my non-Real ID driver's license is fine for driving cars anywhere in the country. So whatevs.

[Ms. Toad]

12. You need at least two documents for a real ID

Visit your state’s driver’s licensing agency website to find out exactly what documentation is required to obtain a REAL ID. At a minimum, you must provide documentation showing: 1) Full Legal Name; 2) Date of Birth; 3) Social Security Number; 4) Two Proofs of Address of Principal Residence; and 5) Lawful Status.

Your passport can prove some things, but not others. Your passport does not include an address, IIRC. (Even if it does, you need a second document to prove current address.)

And if you ever had a different last name on any of the documents you are trying to use (Birth Certificate, SS card, Passport, ID), you have to provide legal name changes from birth certicate (or whatever document you are using) to your current name. I lucked out on that, since I briefly had a different last name, but reverted to my birth name. Women married once, twice, three times, etc. aren't so lucky.

[localroger]

19. The problem is that nearly all the documents that can prove your address

...pay stubs, utility bills, etc. are now electronic, so there are no paper copies to bring. I don't know if they accept printouts of web forms but if they do they're stupid because those are easily faked. My wife, who has been self employed for over 40 years, simply threw her hands in the air and declared it was impossible. I do have a regular job but again, no paper copies and getting them would be a major hassle, so since both of us have passports we just got those renewed which is much easier. The fact is a passport may not be proof of residence, but I can't think of a single thing you can do with a Real ID that you can't do with a passport, except drive a car. Also, Louisiana has a very forward looking service called LA Passport, which allows you to use an app on your phone as your valid DL for ID within the state and a few other states that reciprocate, and it's become wildly popular. You can't use LA passport for Real ID though. I know some people find it inconvenient but I've carried a wallet all my life and putting the passport in my wallet too when I know I might need it isn't that much of a problem for me.

[Ms. Toad]

21. I was able to print out my pay stub

from the HR site. (They accepted it.) I had my current DL for the second confirmation of my address.

I'd have to see what is acceptable now that I'm retired and no longer have a pay stub. My goal is to keep an ID current so I don't have to find out. A lot of people who have pretty simple life paths don't realize how challenging establishing citizenship and identity according to the right rules can be for someone with any glitches in life's path.

I've traveled with a passport for years. Sometimes I get sent out of the country, so it's just easiest to keep it in my travel pack.

[JonAndKatePlusABird]

22. Usually with online bills, you can print a PDF of the bill

That PDF will be the exact same document they snail-mail, so it would work for address/identity verification.

And yes, it’s not too difficult to forge a document like that……..except doing so is fraud, so wouldn’t recommend that.

Switching gears…..have you looked into the passport card? You can’t use it to fly internationally, only works for for driving across the Canadian or Mexican border. But it’s the same size as a drivers license, and it’s technically an official passport, so works as ID. It’s great for domestic travel because it’s an official ID, but no need to deal with all the Real ID nonsense.

[localroger]

24. We looked into the passport cards, but didn't bother

My wife is a birder so she does a lot of real international travel, which the card doesn't work for. And neither of us finds it all that inconvenient to just carry the standard passport which works for everything.

[getagrip_already]

10. You can get replacement ss cards online....

I don't get this whole thread. You can actually print a ss card. It isn't illegal as they are not considered secure credentials.

As for the dmv, they don't enter expiration dates. The card issuance systems automatically set them. The dmv agents can't change them.

Even real I'd checks aren't as strict as you describe.

I just don't follow.....

[Ms. Toad]

14. To get one online,

You still have to provide identification. (I thought that might be an option, as well - but I walked through the steps. Even online, you have to provide something from the list the OP included.)

Real ID checks are actually more strict. It took me at least 3 documents to get my real ID (you have to provide 2 which document current address, and something proving citizenship). I was lucky that I currently use my birth name so I don't have to trace the intermediate name changes.

As to the DMV, I agree. I can't see any way an individual DMV worker could issue a card without an expiration date on it.

[Takket]

13. you shouldn't need a SS card to get a new DL

people lose their DLs all the time. I live in Michigan. Here you just order a new one. The state literally issued you the ID. if it has a DL# on it they can just look up the number to verify who you are. or literally just look at the picture on the ID... go back to the office where the ID gets issued. they messed up.

[Ms. Toad]

16. The problem appears to be that it expired long enough ago

that the OP has to start over. That's reading between the lines - no expiration date. When someone pointed out that her driver's license was expired it had expired long enough ago that it is no longer a simple task to get a new one.

I have to get one in person due to my age, but I don't need anything more than my current driver's license - unless it expired more than 6 months ago. If it expired more than 6 months ago, I have to start all over again (temporary permit, pass all the tests, etc., proof of citizenship, identity)

[localroger]

25. Probably something a badly programmed computer made possible

Here in Louisiana, years ago they extended the expiration period but staggered terms so that everyone wouldn't show up at once with the new dates, so the computer couldn't just automatically add 4 years to the current date any more. It's possible the user interface change for that would then make it possible to set up no date at all (perhaps if you're the first customer of the morning) so it was printed as 00/00/0000, which would probably be interpreted as the card expiring the moment it was issued.

[Liberty Belle]

17. Call your state legislator and your Congressional rep for help.

Even the right wing ones usually have constituent services folks that can help in situations like this.

I had a similar catch-22 with the DMV that was preventing me from getting my global reentry card. Both my state and federal representatives went to bat for me (one Dem, one Rep) with the state and federal agencies and got the problem solved.

[a kennedy]

18. OMG........so sorry, and good luck.

[brooklynite]

20. Call your Congressperson about the Social Security card

Republican or Democratic, their staff will be prepared to offer constituent service.

[Johonny]

23. I surrendered my Texas title to my car to California

but never got a new one in the mail. So I went to the DMV to get my title from California, but they claimed I had never surrendered it. They said I needed a new one from Texas and to surrender it again. But of course, Texas would not issue me a new one because they claimed (correctly) that I had surrendered it to California and thus would need to surrender my new (non-existent) California title first. Thus, I had a car with no title that I could not get a title to as neither state would contact the other state to confirm that they both had the title as surrendered (honestly we're one country right?), but oddly enough both states wanted me to pay money to keep it registered in their state. The DMV sucks. Abolish the DMV.

[csziggy]

26. Yep - this is why it took years for my 80+ year old mother to get a corrected birth certificate

She had her Social Security card, her discharge papers from the Navy Nurse Corps, her then current driver's license, and a whole wad of documentation.

The problem was, when Alabama digitized her birth record, some idiot clerk pulled off the date her birth was registered and not her actual birth date. She was a home birth, attended by a doctor. He registered the birth the next day, so the digitized record was a day off.

Even with all her documentation, the Alabama Vital Records people would not accept that they were wrong. She (well, actually my sister who was helping her) finally had to get certified copies of the original records from the Social Security Administration which included the decades old certified copy of her original birth certificate showing the correct date. (Apparently once Alabama digitized their records, they discarded the originals or filed them away to never be seen again.)

What really bothered my mother is that she and my father had the same birthday - she was two years older than him but they always thought it was fun. They made such a big thing of it, it wasn't until I started first grade that I learned that most parents do not have the same birthday!

Good thing Mom had my sister to fight for her.