Story County Recorder Sue Vande Kamp says her office has been busy with applications for weeks already but some people don’t realize it means a simple drive across the border will require the same federal I.D. you used to need only for trips to certain faraway nations.
"There’s a lot of people that go north in the summer to go fishing. We have a lot of guys around here that have their own cabins up there, and one of these days they’re going to have a real rude awakening." You need to bring in identification when you apply for a passport, like…your old passport. A certified copy of your birth certificate will do as well, from the county recorder’s office or the state health department. You’re required to bring in two identical passport photos, and not just any old snapshot or class picture will do.
Many places including photography studios take passport photos, and Vande Kamp says usually they’ll cost between eight and fourteen dollars. The stricter passport law isn’t the only change Iowans can expect. The recorder says your certified copy of your birth certificate may not be good indefinitely.
Some changes from the federal government are expected to come down through the state’s administrative rules process. While that’s been rumored for a couple years, Vande Kamp says it’s likely they’ll look at the date it was stamped and it’ll only be "good" for so long. Older certificates typed by county clerks years ago lack some of the information, like parents’ names, that is required today.
The federal "Real I.D. Act" may mean you also have to show a birth certificate to get your driver’s license. You have had one since you were 16, she says, but you’ll still probably have to bring in a birth certificate next time you renew. She says when issuing new certified copies of birth certificates, they’re using new "safety paper" which makes it harder to counterfeit ID documents.