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WEST VALLEY CITY — When we go to the Driver License Division to renew a driver license, we now have to bring a passport or birth certificate, and a Social Security card.
For most, the new rules don't cause problems. But for some naturalized citizens, those rules don't work so well.
Irene Christenson, a resident of West Valley, has been a U.S. citizen 22 years, a permanent Utah resident 10 years, and she served in the Army Reserves. But when she went to renew her Utah driver license in early December, she ran into problems.
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"I was just kind of frustrated," Christenson said, "feeling like I'm not a real U.S. citizen in some ways."
She checked the state website before she went to renew her license, and took her certificate of naturalization, as required.
The worker took her document and faxed Homeland Security for verification, a process that takes 3 to 5 seconds for most naturalized citizens. But not for Christenson.
"Ten minutes later, (he) came back and said, 'You'll need to call us back in three days to see if it was cleared,'" Christenson said.
She was told not to worry. But when she called back, workers said the process would take 30 days because Christenson's naturalization certificate was older and not stored in a computer database.
"I called back 30 days later and I was told I've been a U.S. citizen for too long," Christenson said.
Now Christenson has a six-month, temporary license, but no time frame to receive the permanent one.
"Having served in the military, and using this same certificate to enlist, I feel like, really? I've been a citizen too long? Is that even possible?" Christenson said.
Having served in the military, and using this same certificate to enlist, I feel like, really? I've been a citizen too long? Is that even possible?
–Irene Christenson
Utah Driver Services Bureau Chief Chris Caras says that's not an entirely accurate explanation. Homeland Security usually verifies that document in seconds, he says. But for some applicants it takes three to five days, or even two to four weeks. And for a handful of people, like Christenson, it can take months.
"What actually causes it is really a question for us as well as a lot of the applicants," Caras said.
He said the division is not sure why some documents take longer to verify than others, and he pointed out older certificates than Christenson's often get clearance in seconds. Delays can occur, he said, when numbers or other formats have been changed over the years.
The division has seen a handful of cases like Christensons, and Caras says they do what they can to help keep the process moving.
"We're not questioning their documents," he said. "We're not questioning them at all. We're just trying to go through the process that we're required."
Christenson hopes to get her permanent license soon, and run into fewer problems when she renews again in five years.
The Utah Driver License Division made a call about Christenson's paperwork Thursday, but they were not able to get any new information from Homeland Security.
For the rest of us, check the website before you renew and make sure you take the right documents.
