Janie Masunaga, who was born on Kauai in 1932, recently tried to renew her driver’s license as she has done all her life but found that this time, the only way she can do so is to legally change her name.
"I knew that a new law was passed, and I took all the documents, my birth certificate, Social Security card and so on," said Masunaga, who went to the Fort Street Satellite City Hall two weeks ago for what she thought would be a routine license renewal. "I found out that I can’t do it because the names don’t match."
A state law that took effect in March, toughening identification requirements for driver’s licenses, is tripping up Hawaii residents such as Masunaga, who use first names that differ from what’s on their birth certificates. Some are finding that they must legally change their names, a costly and time-consuming process, to prove they are eligible for a license or state identification card.
"Since this legal-presence law took effect, our volume has nearly doubled," said Kim Yoshimoto, chief of staff for the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, which handles legal name changes and is now receiving roughly 75 requests per week. "About two-thirds of that increase are elderly people."
"Typically, there’s a certain name that’s on the birth certificate, and the person has adopted another name, often an English name, throughout their lives. And then suddenly, when they go to renew their state ID or their driver’s licenses, it doesn’t match up. So they have to come to our office and correct the inconsistency and then take it back. They go through a legal name change."
IF YOU’RE DUE TO RENEW …
Officials urge applying early to renew a driver’s licenses given possible delays due to strict identification requirements. Applicants must provide proof of:
>> Legal name.
>> Date of birth.
>> Legal presence in the United States.
>> Social Security number.
Acceptable documents include birth certificates, passports, state identification cards, Social Security cards and certificates of citizenship and naturalization. Documents must be valid originals or certified copies, not photocopies.
If your current name differs from your “legal presence” document, you must provide “connecting documents” to establish the link between the names, such as marriage, divorce, adoption or name-change certification.
A Hawaii driver’s license may be renewed as early as six months before its expiration. For online information: www.hawaii.gov/dot
Source: Hawaii Department of Transportation
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A legal name change requires several steps, and the costs add up. They include the $50 filing fee to the state, $183 to publish the name change in the newspaper and $30 to register the change at the Bureau of Conveyances. For those who amend their birth certificate, it’s another $13.
"For a lot of the elderly, they are on a fixed income, and for them the cost is quite high," Yoshimoto noted.
The Hawaii Legal Presence Act was passed in 2010 to comply with the federal REAL ID Act, which set national standards for issuing driver’s licenses and identification cards. Some states have resisted the federal mandate, citing privacy concerns and a lack of funds.
The Hawaii law requires that applicants provide proof of their name, date of birth, legal presence in the United States and Social Security number. Evidence can include documents such as birth certificates, passports, state identification cards, Social Security cards and certificates of citizenship and naturalization.
In Masunaga’s case the first name on her birth certificate is Kiyomi, but when she was baptized at age 12, she chose the Christian name Janie as a first name and Kiyomi became her middle name. Her baptismal certificate makes that clear, but a religious document isn’t sufficient proof. All her other documents, including her Social Security card, driver’s license and marriage certificate, have been under Janie. And that’s what threw up the roadblock for her.
"I’m going to legalize what I go by now, which is Janie Kiyomi Masunaga," she said. "The house we bought, everything is in that name."
Dennis Kamimura, licensing administrator in the Honolulu Motor Vehicle and Licensing Division, advised people to factor in extra time when applying to renew their licenses, to ensure any delays don’t leave them with an expired license. A Hawaii driver’s license can be renewed up to six months before its expiration date.
The new process has applicants receive a temporary paper license valid for up to 60 days while checks are completed before the actual license is mailed to them.
"We’re following federal law with regard to showing your full legal name on our documents, both for the IDs as well as driver’s licenses," Kamimura said.
"If they look at the birth certificate and find that their name does not match the name that’s on their driver’s license, they may have to take appropriate action to do a legal name change," he said. "The name on the documents presented for proof of name, date of birth, Social Security number and legal presence must all be the same."
People who have taken on new names, through marriage or adoption, or simply at the urging of a schoolteacher, must be able to trace the evolution of their name in legal documentation.
"Any type of name change that you have on the documents presented has to be proven by documentary evidence, and that evidence has to be a state or jurisdictional document, not a church-issued one," Kamimura said.
Masunaga is taking it all in stride, remaining cheerful despite the hassle and the possibility that her husband may have to become her chauffeur if the paperwork doesn’t get processed before her birthday. She emphasized that she doesn’t oppose the new law.
"I think it’s a good idea," she said. "It makes it harder for people to abuse the privilege, and with people stealing identities these days, it makes sense."
