What is changing?
Beginning in 2018, there will be two major
changes to standard driver licenses and
IDs.
• Federalmarking:Starting July 1, 2018,
all standard non-enhanced cards will be
marked with FEDERALLIMITSAPPLY.
• Driverlicense/IDnumbers: All cards
issued after September 4, 2018, will
have WDL as the first three characters.
This includes driver licenses (standard
and enhanced), identification cards, and
commercial driver licenses.
Federal marking
Standard identification documents for all
Washington residents issued after July
1, 2018, will be marked with FEDERAL
LIMITS APPLY. This indicates that the
document is not valid for federal purposes.
The marking is the same regardless of your
citizenship status and your ability to drive
within the U.S. is not affected.
No one is required to get an enhanced
driver license or ID at this time. The
Department of Licensing will continue to
issue standard driver licenses and IDs.
What you need to know about driver license/ID changes
Driver license / ID
numbers
Starting September 4, 2018, newly-issued
driver licenses and ID cards will receive a
new number. They will start with the letters
‘WDL’ followed by a randomly selected
series of alphabetical letters and numbers.
This is how you’ll recognize that it is in the
new format. We chose WDL because no
one currently has that series of letters as
the first three letters of their license.
generated numbers gives us billions of
possible combinations so we will not run out
in the near future. Additionally, this means a
customer can maintain their license number
even after a name or credential change.
• It is more secure because it does not
use protected personal information.
The randomly generated number will
not relate to an individual’s name or
birthdate.
When will this change
happen?
We will implement the new driver license
numbers when we launch our new driver
system called DRIVES on September 4,
2018.
How will we make the
change happen?
After September 4, every person receiving a
new card for the first time in Washington will
receive one with the new format.
People who already have a license or ID will
get the new number at their next issuance
event after September 4 —when they renew
their license, or replace it for some reason.
How long will it take to
make the change?
It will take six years after September 2018.
Conversion will happen gradually as DOL
issues first-time licenses, and as we issue
renewals and replacements. Thismeans
we’llhavebothdriverlicensenumber
formatsincirculationuntil2024.
This long rollout will make it easier for
customers and DOL to get used to the
change.
How will we notify
business partners of
this change?
We are in the process of sending formal
communication about this change and will
continue through August.
We will update our external website to
inform business partners and customers of
this changes. We will also provide brochures
to our Licensing Service Offices to give
customers more details about the change.
Washington residents that have a standard
identification document will still have access
to federal courts, Social Security offices,
health care facilities, national parks and
areas of federal facilities that do not require
ID to access.
Starting in October 2020, standard
Washington state driver licenses and ID
cards will no longer be accepted as a
standalone identity document for many
federal purposes, including commercial air
travel. There are many types of federally
accepted identity documents that can be
used under REAL ID, with the Washington
state enhanced driver licenses and
enhanced ID cards being the state-issued
option. Adding FEDERAL LIMITS APPLY to
our licenses will help Washington comply
with REAL ID.
• The DRIVES system supports the ability
to search for a customer by either the old
number or the new number.
• Each of the 12 characters (alphabetical
characters or numbers) will have the
same characteristics as they do with the
current format.
– For example, the first seven
characters of the current driver
license numbers are alphabetical.
The new numbers will also start
with seven alphabetical characters.
The same holds true for numbers —
all numbers in the current license
number format will remain numbers in
the new format.
• Certain letters and characters won’t be
used, including:
– Special characters that are not
standard letters or numbers (e.g., *,
etc.)
– Vowels (A, E, I, O and U)
– The letters Q and V
– Elimination of these letters reduces
both confusion (e.g., between a zero
and the alpha character O) and the
potential creation of unacceptable
words.
Why change?
The new driver license number format is
more sustainable. We are running out of
possible letter and number combinations
using the old format. The new, randomly
If you have any questions about the new
numbering format, please email
[email protected]