My wife and I just renewed our expired passports. [View all]

[MineralMan]

We have no plans to travel outside of the US, but the wonderful State of Minnesota has stalled and stalled on complying with the Real ID law for its driver's licenses. They're finally working on implementing that, but they won't be available easily until after the deadline. You can get an "Enhanced DL" that is compliant for a fee, but there's a catch in that, too:

It seems that Minnesota's department that handles licenses and registrations decided to update the software that handles all of that. For the bargain price of $90 million, they got the new system, installed it, at which time it broke and still isn't working properly. Title transfers, license tab renewals and, of course, driver's licenses are on a very, very slow track these days. So, converting my non-compliant DL to a Real ID-compliant Enhanced DL would take months to complete, and the deadline for needing such a thing is fast approaching.

So, new passports for us. While that takes a bit of time, as well, this is the slow season and we'll have them well in advance of the time we'll need them to get on a plane at MSP or visit the Social Security Office or Federal Courts building, all of which will soon require a Real ID-compliant ID. A Passport will work just fine.

I write this for two reasons: If you live in MN and don't already have an Enhanced DL, check your passport. If you don't have one or it has expired or is about to expire, take care of that soon. You'll avoid the gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair that will soon ensue. Besides, having a current passport is always a good idea. You never know when some rich relative will invite you along on a round-the-world trip on short notice and it would be a shame if you had to decline because you didn't have a passport. Really.

Anyhow, passports now cost $110 with normal processing and 4-6 week delivery, or $170 for expedited processing. Check it out!