White Sands Missile Range No Longer Accepting New Mexico Driver’s License

White Sands Missile Range announced it will no longer be accepting New Mexico Driver's License as an acceptable form of identification. 

The base stopped accepting New Mexico Driver's license as of Monday because they do not comply with the REAL ID Act. The REAL ID Act requirements mandate proof of legal U.S. residency for holders who want to use state IDs to access certain areas of federal buildings and, eventually, board commercial flights.

Since New Mexico has not complied with these laws and the extension was denied, you will need the following forms of identification, if up to date and valid, to access the base.

• DOD-issued Common Access Card
• Military Identification Card - active duty, retired, Reserve, National Guard or dependent.
• Federal Identification Cards
• Transportation Worker Identification Card
• United States passport or United States passport card
• Permanent Resident Card/Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551)
• Foreign passport with a temporary (I-551) stamp or temporary (I-551) printed notation on a machine readable immigrant visa
• An employment authorization document that contains a photograph (Form I-766)
• Current/valid driver's license from a state that is Real ID Act compliant
• ID card issued by federal, state, and local government agencies (must contain photo, name, date of birth, gender, height, eye color and address)
• U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Legacy Cards
• U.S. Coast Guard New Merchant Mariner Credential
• Native American tribal document.

A background check is also required by all visitors to enter the base.