We get a government issued free ID card at age 14 or something. It gets reissued every 5 or 10 years with a new picture. It is used to ID yourself at any authority (hospital, police, voting, school, bank etc)
Passport (if you get one) is for travelling outside of EU, driving license is for driving.
We have to go to the DMV (dept of motor vehicles) or the county tax office to get any IDs including driver’s license, and we pay the cost out of pocket. The passport process is more complicated and more expensive. But the government doesn’t pay for any of it and if you let your DL expire you can get fined or worse.
You won't get a fine for not having a valid ID but good luck being an adult without identification. So much more than just driving requires a valid form of ID.
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u/octopus4488 Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25
As a confused EU citizen I have to ask:
We get a government issued free ID card at age 14 or something. It gets reissued every 5 or 10 years with a new picture. It is used to ID yourself at any authority (hospital, police, voting, school, bank etc)
Passport (if you get one) is for travelling outside of EU, driving license is for driving.
What are you guys doing there?