The secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP), engineer Eileen Vélez Vega, announced this Tuesday that with the goal of reducing the frustrations of citizens when doing procedures that require their driver’s license for the purposes of recognition, it has been reformatted so that it includes Puerto Rico, USA and clearly recognizes the jurisdiction of the American territory.
“As the public knows, many Puerto Ricans are facing serious failures by law enforcement officials and private companies to present their driver’s license as part of the various procedures they are conducting. This initiative aims to reduce existing confusion and emphasize that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States,” the DTOP secretary stated in written statements.
For his part, the Secretary of the Department of State, Omar Marrero, indicated that: “from the Department we work well and in coordination with all the agencies of the Government of Puerto Rico, as well as with the agencies of the Federal Government to ensure that all Puerto Rican American citizens are in a position to comply with all current national regulations that seek to guarantee our safety. This initiative is one of many that allows us to ensure that we can visit any state, without any failures.”
For this, the secretary of the Department of Public Security (DSP), Alexis Torres Ríos, consulted the Department of Homeland Security, to which they responded in the affirmative, indicating that other states and territories have already done the same by combining the Real ID and USA driver’s license. Unlike Puerto Rico, which has not integrated since this new identification began processing.
Meanwhile, Torres Ríos stated that: “with the new format, citizens should not have problems presenting their Real ID for the purposes of identification as an American citizen and to implement the any procedure that requires presentation of their license. “I appreciate the prompt response of the Department of Homeland Security so that the Real ID issued in Puerto Rico meets all federal requirements.”
The secretary of the DSP recalled that “Real ID is part of the federal regulations after the attacks on the twin towers on September 11, which require citizens to present an identification with an enhanced security system to pass through checkpoints, security at airports or to visit certain federal facilities such as military bases.”
This new format is for newly printed licenses as well as all virtual licenses that can access the CESCO digital application. It does not require additional documents for the license renewal process or duplicates.
