To the editor:

My driver’s license came due last August and I had all my info ready to prove who I was, where I lived, etc. in order to get a REAL ID license but with COVID, DMV was not doing them and an 8-year license was issued.

This May I had an appointment to get the REAL ID. Paperwork checked and the clerk says $12.50. Taken aback, I questioned why as the printout with directions how to apply states: REAL ID and STANDARD “no additional fee” ENHANCED “additional $30 fee”.

To get an answer, I wrote Albany DMV. First reply “Your license was amended at the time of your appointment.” This still did not explain the $12.50, so I wrote asking what was amended. Reply came, “When you upgrade to a REAL ID there is a $12.50 processing fee.”

How do those “no additional fees” apply? Maybe if you update when your license comes due, there would be no processing fee? If so, I would expect DMV to waive such a fee to all they couldn’t process during COVID reduced staff. Also there are people whose licenses may not come due for renewal before the deadline. Should they be prepared to pay the $12.50?

Mary Heinle

White Sulphur Springs