Question: I added my Hawaii REAL ID driver’s license to my Apple Wallet but can’t get through all the steps for it to be verified as a digital ID I can use at the airport. One problem is that I’m told to input a verification code, but I don’t have a code. Was that supposed to come from Apple? Are others having this problem?
Answer: No, the code wouldn’t come from Apple; it would come from the DMV and be delivered by mail — you can resume the verification process when it arrives, presuming that you did not delete your request, as some other readers have done after receiving the same prompt and not immediately receiving a code on their phone, as they expected.
As for your second question, yes, Kokua Line receives periodic complaints from readers having trouble adding their REAL ID-compliant Hawaii driver’s license or state ID to their Apple Watch or iPhone (iPhone 8 or newer) as a digital ID. The state Department of Transportation has instructions and a troubleshooting guide on its website, at 808ne.ws/4lygXPY. We’ll highlight its answers to a few of the most common questions we receive:
Q: I am being prompted to enter a Verification Code, but I do not have one — what do I do?
A: “You will receive this notification if your County Driver License Office needs to complete additional verification. Your County Driver License Office will mail you a Verification Code to your address on file. Please note that this can take three to four weeks to receive this code. You will need to enter this code in Apple Wallet in order to complete verification.”
Q: I have not received my Verification Code in the mail. What do I do to complete verification?
A: “Please note that this can take 3 to 4 weeks to receive this code. Email your County Driver License Office if you still have not received a code after this period of time.
“City and County of Honolulu — mdl@honolulu.gov
“Hawai‘i County — mdl@hawaiicounty.gov
“Kauai County — KauaiDMV@kauai.gov
“Maui County — mdler@mauicounty.gov.”
Q: I have received my Verification Code in the mail. Where do I enter it?
A: “You can navigate to Apple Wallet, select the plus (+) icon, then select Driver’s License or State ID, then select Hawai‘i. You will then be able to enter the Verification Code.”
Most of the readers we’ve followed up with received the mailed code in less than a month, typically in a week or so. Not everyone who adds their license or ID to Apple Wallet will need to wait for a mailed code to complete the verification process — some requests are completed without additional follow-up.
A digital ID does not replace your plastic-card driver’s license or identification card, “and you must continue to carry your physical card. ID in Apple Wallet is voluntary and serves as an easy, private and secure companion to your physical, plastic driver’s license/ identification card.
Q: There seem to be quite a few options for free sterilization of cats, but what about dogs? Didn’t there used to be a city program?
A: You seem to be referring to the Neuter Now program, which was narrowed from its original scope subsidizing the cost of spay/neuter surgery for pet cats and dogs owned by anyone to serving only low-income pet owners who received a qualifying form of government assistance. However, even that narrowed program has been suspended indefinitely, “due to demand for services outpacing the funding allocated by the City and County of Honolulu. Application processing will be on hold during this time,” the Hawaiian Humane Society says on its website. HHS continues to offer low-cost sterilization surgery by appointment through its clinic, thanks to donor support, separate from the Neuter Now program, which had included various veterinarian clinics.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
