California’s Department of Motor Vehicles revealed that about 325,000 people will be required to obtain a new REAL ID driver’s license due to a software issue dating back more than 20 years.
The REAL ID, a federally accepted driver’s license, was officially implemented nationwide in May 2025 after Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005. With travelers now required to show either a REAL ID or a passport when flying, the DMV released a statement Wednesday saying an estimated 325,000 people will receive notices instructing them to correct their licenses.
“We proactively reviewed our records, identified a legacy system issue from 2006, and are notifying impacted customers with clear guidance on how to maintain a valid California-issued credential,” California DMV Director Steve Gordon said. “For nearly 99% of REAL ID holders, no action is required. The DMV remains committed to serving all Californians and ensuring REAL ID credentials meet federal standards.”
The error, according to the California DMV, stemmed from a “software configuration” dating back to 2006 under former Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration.
The department said that with full enforcement of REAL ID beginning in May 2025, it conducted a “proactive review of its legacy technology systems this winter” and found the 2006 issue affected how expiration dates were applied to a “small subset of REAL ID records.”
Notably, the department stated that under Trump administration guidance allowing REAL IDs to be issued to lawful migrants, the DMV correctly verified the legal status of those issued licenses. However, the 2006 “legacy coding” automatically “applied the standard credential renewal interval in some cases, instead of the expiration of a REAL ID holder’s authorized stay.”
The DMV clarified that no REAL IDs were issued to illegal migrants, that all individuals who received REAL IDs had their legal status verified and that the issue is limited to the calculation of some expiration dates.
“Separate and independent federally required safeguards against ineligible individuals registering to vote remained in place, consistent with the federal Motor Voter Act,” the DMV added.
According to the press release, the state’s DMV will notify affected individuals in the “coming weeks and months” so a new license can be reissued. The department said it will expedite the process and waive any associated fees.
California’s DMV was criticized by the Trump administration after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced in November that the agency unlawfully issued 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses to migrant drivers.
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