§ 37.17 - Requirements for the surface of the driver's license or identification card.

§ 37.17 Requirements for the surface of the driver's license or identification card.

To be accepted by a Federal agency for official purposes, REAL ID driver's licenses and identification cards must include on the front of the card (unless otherwise specified below) the following information:

(a) Full legal name. Except as permitted in § 37.11(c)(2), the name on the face of the license or card must be the same as the name on the source document presented by the applicant to establish identity. Where the individual has only one name, that name should be entered in the last name or family name field, and the first and middle name fields should be left blank. Place holders such as NFN, NMN, and NA should not be used.

(b) Date of birth.

(c) Gender, as determined by the State.

(d) Unique Driver's license or identification card number. This cannot be the individual's SSN, and must be unique across driver's license or identification cards within the State.

(e) Full facial digital photograph. A full facial photograph must be taken pursuant to the standards set forth below:

(1) States shall follow specifically ISO/IEC 19794–5:2005(E) Information technology—Biometric Data Interchange Formats—Part 5: Face Image Data. The Director of the Federal Register approves this incorporation by reference in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552 (a) and 1 CFR part 51. You may obtain a copy of these incorporated standards from http://www.ansi.org, or by contacting ANSI at ANSI, 25 West 43rd Street, 4th Floor, New York, New York 10036. You may inspect a copy of the incorporated standard at the Department of Homeland Security, 1621 Kent Street, 9th Floor, Rosslyn, VA (please call 703–235–0709 to make an appointment) or at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of material at NARA, call 202–741–6030, or go to www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.

These standards include:

(i) Lighting shall be equally distributed on the face.

(ii) The face from crown to the base of the chin, and from ear-to-ear, shall be clearly visible and free of shadows.

(iii) Veils, scarves or headdresses must not obscure any facial features and not generate shadow. The person may not wear eyewear that obstructs the iris or pupil of the eyes and must not take any action to obstruct a photograph of their facial features.

(iv) Where possible, there must be no dark shadows in the eye-sockets due to the brow. The iris and pupil of the eyes shall be clearly visible.

(v) Care shall be taken to avoid “hot spots” (bright areas of light shining on the face).

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by reference; see § 37.4).

(2) Photographs may be in black and white or color.

(f) Address of principal residence, except an alternative address may be displayed for:

(1) Individuals for whom a State law, regulation, or DMV procedure permits display of an alternative address, or

(2) Individuals who satisfy any of the following:

(i) If the individual is enrolled in a State address confidentiality program which allows victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or a severe form of trafficking, to keep, obtain, and use alternative addresses; and provides that the addresses of such persons must be kept confidential, or other similar program;

(ii) If the individual's address is entitled to be suppressed under State or Federal law or suppressed by a court order including an administrative order issued by a State or Federal court; or

(iii) If the individual is protected from disclosure of information pursuant to section 384 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

(3) In areas where a number and street name has not been assigned for U.S. mail delivery, an address convention used by the U.S. Postal Service is acceptable.

(g) Signature.

(1) The card must include the signature of the card holder. The signature must meet the requirements of the March 2005 American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators ( AAMVA ) standards for the 2005 AAMVA Driver's License/Identification Card Design Specifications, Annex A, section A.7.7.2. Specifications (incorporated by reference; see § 37.4). This standard includes requirements for size, scaling, cropping, color, borders, and resolution. The Director of the Federal Register approves this incorporation by reference in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552

(

a) and 1 CFR part 51. You may obtain a copy of these standards from AAMVA on-line at http://www.aamva.org, or by contacting AAMVA at 4301 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 400, Arlington, VA 22203. You may inspect a copy of these incorporated standards at the Department of Homeland Security, 1621 Kent Street, 9th Floor, Rosslyn, VA (please call 703–235–0709 to make an appointment) or at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of material at NARA, call 202–741–6030, or go to http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.

(2) The State shall establish alternative procedures for individuals unable to sign their name.

(h) Physical security features, pursuant to § 37.15 of this subpart.

(i) Machine-readable technology on the back of the card, pursuant to § 37.19 of this subpart.

(j) Date of transaction.

(k) Expiration date.

(l) State or territory of issuance.

(m) Printed information. The name, date of birth, gender, card number, issue date, expiration date, and address on the face of the card must be in Latin alpha-numeric characters. The name must contain a field of no less than a total of 39 characters, and longer names shall be truncated following the standard established by International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ) 9303, “Machine Readable Travel Documents,” Volume 1, part 1, Sixth Edition, 2006. The Director of the Federal Register approves this incorporation by reference in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. You may obtain a copy of ICAO 9303 from the ICAO, Document Sales Unit, 999 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 5H7, e-mail: [e-mail]. You may inspect a copy of the incorporated standard at the Department of Homeland Security, 1621 Kent Street, 9th Floor, Rosslyn, VA (please call 703–235–0709 to make an appointment) or at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of material at NARA, call 202–741–6030, or go to http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.

(

9303 (incorporated by reference; see § 37.4).

(n) The card shall bear a DHS-approved security marking on each driver's license or identification card that is issued reflecting the card's level of compliance as set forth in § 37.51 of this Rule.

[73 FR 5331, Jan. 29, 2008, as amended at 88 FR 44192, July 12, 2023]