Do I no longer need the physical address once I get a DL?

[RVTravel]

A cpa told me the big three for domicile state were mailing address, drivers license, and voter registration.

 

[maki2]

A driver's license is good for quite a few years before it comes up for renewal. If you move you are supposed to notify the state of your new residential address and/or updated mailing address. That license becomes one of the key pieces of your identification.

For a woman who later changed her name when married and then divorced and might have changed names again it can be tricky to provide verification of identity. For the new real ID or passports you will have to provide not just a birth certificate but also marriage licenses and divorce paperwork.

 

[rruff]

I thought people used mailing services, "virtual mailboxes" or whatever they are called. Is this no longer an option?

Years ago my Mom took care of my mail (bless her heart), but that is no longer possible.

 

[Almost There]

It used to be an option until all the states are trying to convert their drivers' licensing requirements to fulfill the 'Real ID' requirements of the federal government.

Years ago you could walk in to a DMV with your current drivers' license, tell them verbally where you had moved to and walk out with a new drivers' license. Not any more!

Now you need several different types of proof of legal residency (passport/birth certificate etc) as well as various numbers and types of proof of a legal address. All this to comply with the federal regulations.

Some of the states like Florida have made it possible for nomads to register legally because of their number of 'boat people'...no not the type that float in on rafts... , the ones who live aboard boats and need a land address. There, businesses like St. Brendan's Isle in Green Cove Springs have been officially recognized as a legitimate address for both RVrs and boaters to use. Escapees in Texas is another business that is set up to handle nomadic licensing.

 

[deadwood]

I think it definitely helps to have a real address. By that I mean a legal address not so much a physical address. P.O. Boxes are not legal addresses but some of the mailing service do offer a legal address. I use one in SD.

It gives me a legal address. I don't every have to worry about changing it depending on where I am living. It gives me an address to use for my license, tax purposes, bank accounts. I do get very little actual mail sent to me but when I do I can have it forwarded to wherever I am at the moment.

I think I pay around $18 a month for the service and it has been worth every penny of that to me. It makes my life easier. I don't have to depend on using a friend or relatives house to use as an address. If I do get mail it is easy to get sent to me.

As a true nomad you can pick your state of domicile. Not so easy when you own property. So if you owned property in California it might be difficult to use an out of state address. Especially if you were working in California. They would want to make sure they are collecting state tax from you. But as a true nomad you could easily pick a state that has no state tax and make that your permanent domicile.

A lot of it comes down to your lifestyle. Are you just traveling the country? Do you work full time? Everyones situation is a little different so it would be good to research what would benefit you the most for the way you live.

I haven't had a physical address for the last 3 years. But I have had a legal address all this time. It has made my life easier. I travel for my job so I just need an address somewhere for my employer. My banking and doing taxes the same. Doesn't matter where I am just that I have an address to use.

You could easily use a friend or relatives house and accomplish the same thing. I just don't want to depend on anyone else for things like that so it is worth it for me to spend the $18 a month to avoid that.

 

[rruff]

P.O. Boxes are not legal addresses but some of the mailing service do offer a legal address. I use one in SD.

It gives me a legal address. I don't every have to worry about changing it depending on where I am living. It gives me an address to use for my license, tax purposes, bank accounts. I do get very little actual mail sent to me but when I do I can have it forwarded to wherever I am at the moment. I think I pay around $18 a month for the service and it has been worth every penny of that to me.

Right, this is exactly what I was thinking of. If it works, why are so many people suggesting that the OP is SOL? I thought mailing services were standard practice for vagabonds.

 

[B and C]

Different states have different requirements. If you cannot change your domicile to another state that allows mail forwarders as legal addresses because of work or some other reason, maybe using a homeless shelter in your area would work. You are not the only houseless person out there.

 

[highest_vision]

Right, this is exactly what I was thinking of. If it works, why are so many people suggesting that the OP is SOL? I thought mailing services were standard practice for vagabonds.

I think there are two reasons why we are saying the OP is SOL, and we aren't saying emphatically so.

One, the OP isn't/wasn't looking to use a mail service, but to use their current address, but after they left that place. Basically their ID would have an address they would not have access to. In my opinion a bad idea.

Two, and more importantly, is that this REAL ID stuff is new and confusing. That is why I feel my NM situation isn't totally legitimate. I have a REAL ID, but at a mailing center. This is all a gray area. It would be great to hear from these boat places, or South Dakota places, and the people who use them, and have gone through this and acquired residency and IDs since REAL ID compliancy. Some states didn't become compliant until last year or maybe even this year. The times they are a changing!

 

[LERCA]

This debate is weird. I live in the South Bay Area of Los Angeles and I’ve had zero problems with my mailbox address. I changed my driver’s license to the mailbox address (one of those mailing places that will forward mail and accept packages) and the clerk looked at me and said that it was a mailing address not a physical one and I asked if it was a problem and she shrugged and said no. I have everything at that address. I assume the sheer number of people doing this makes it impossible to crack down. I do a lot of things online so that makes it even less of an issue as I hardly get bills. I certainly got my jury duty summons just fine. Real ID hasn’t been an issue so far they have allowed a passport instead which I will always have.

 

[user 423]

I live in the South Bay Area of Los Angeles and I’ve had zero problems with my mailbox address. I changed my driver’s license to the mailbox address (one of those mailing places that will forward mail and accept packages) and the clerk looked at me and said that it was a mailing address not a physical one and I asked if it was a problem and she shrugged and said no.

Was the change made at the Cali DMV or at a private tag agency? Some states contract with vendors to do DMV business (Arizona is one). If it was a clerk at a vendor, they may have been more lax about the rules than if you were at the DMV.

 

[LERCA]

I was at the Torrance DMV

 

[highest_vision]

 If it was a clerk at a vendor, they may have been more lax about the rules than if you were at the DMV.

This is an interesting point. I was at a vendor when I got the REAL ID, and they screwed something up that resulted in me having to run across town and they had to stay open late just for me to get back. High likelihood of them running it through as you said. Probably why I now can't register to vote...

 

[Fivealive]

Homeless shelter is your best option, just tell them you live in your vehicle and you need a permanent address for the govt. Don't feel guilty about being a freeloader, the law is pretty strict about this in CA, you are not allowed to use private mailbox service or PO box etc.

A lot of these replies seem unhelpful, a 30 min visit to a shelter or homeless resource center and you will be setup legally. You can still get a PO or private box for your everyday mail, and you can use that as your mailing address (different field then your residence address on DMV, etc forms) so you never actually have to visit the shelter again after you get setup.

 

[LERCA]

The law may be strict in Cali but the application of the law certainly isn’t. I have done this for a year now with no problems including voting, driver’s license, car insurance, Medicare, early retirement and some other things I don’t wish to post about.
Since I’m living it I can’t imagine how much more helpful anyone can be. Please stop scaring the OP about something you are wrong about and causing him needless anxiety. I went through the DMV and various other state agencies with no problem whatsoever. If there ever is a problem then I’ll deal with it. There are simply so many people here now the authorities are overwhelmed dealing with far more serious people and problems than you living in your van with a mailbox address.

 

[crofter]

Another thing to think about is how you are getting health care. Some are still working and get healthcare through employers, but if you use the marketplace it is based on the county you are domiciled at. Some states do not participate in the marketplace, so you will want to find this out if you need health coverage.  -crofter

 

[wayne49]

With not much else to recommend New Jersey as a residency/domicile state, NJ is fighting the Feds to allow NJ to continue to issue non-Real ID DLs. The Feds maintain that NJ is putting anti terrorism efforts in other states in jeopardy.
NJ still requires proof of identity and residency, etc., for the unReal ID DL.
One has to wonder what NJ's motive is for issuing the unReal ID DLs. Who benefits?

 

[LERCA]

@ Wayne in CA you can use a passport if you want a regular DL Is this not the case in NJ?

 

[highdesertranger]

California didn't get serious about the real ID until the last few months. however they are still issuing regular ID's and Driver licenses. highdesertranger

 

[wayne49]

I would not know the answers to those questions. I saw a news article about NJ and Real ID on the web. I am no longer in NJ, but when I was there for the second time in 1999, the third time in 2004, and the fourth time in 2008, I got my NJ DL using a Passport and a Michigan DL. Real ID was in the future. No plans to ever be a resident of NJ ever again.
I have no interest in ever being a Californian, even though I was born there, I don't want to die there. [That is opposite to a song reference. ???]
I am a Nevadan for the foreseeable future.

 

[LoveCareThinkDo]

I am a legal resident of Texas. When you apply for a driver's license they ask you for your "residence address" and your "mailing address." They check that the "residence address" is an address of an actual residence. However, it can be the address of a homeless shelter, or even a church. The only thing they really disallow are USPS mailboxes and mailbox services. They do not check at all to make sure you really live at the "residence address." Hell, you could just give them any actual residence. They wouldn't know. I gave them my son's address in Austin. 

They mail the driver's license to the mailing address that you gave them. They don't care if that one is a mailbox or a service.

For my insurance and my bank and library card and everything else, I just give them my "mailing address" which is a mailbox service.

I have also lived in California... twice. I don't recall them ever asking me to actually prove I lived at the address I gave them. If anyone asks, just tell them you are homeless and give them the address of a homeless shelter. They can't refuse to give you a driver's license just because you are homeless.