New Mexico is now allowing digital IDs, but don’t expect to use them right away

A photo of the New Mexico digital drivers license captured Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. New Mexico is one of several states now allowing for digital ID uses at airport security or for buying age-restricted products. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM)

By Danielle Prokop, Source NM

​New Mexico now allows residents to carry and use virtual driver’s licenses. But for now, they’re mostly just taking up memory on your phone.
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A digital version of your ID won’t let you swan through local airport security for weeks — or maybe even longer, and it’s unclear how many businesses will let you use it to prove you’re old enough to buy alcohol or cannabis.

Earlier this year, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 88 to allow New Mexico to join a handful of other states in developing digital identification for smartphones. Arizona and Georgia first launched their efforts in 2021, and Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland and Ohio followed, while California is still piloting their program.

The process for getting a digital ID includes taking photos of the physical card –  front and back –  and then submitting images and video of the ID-holder’s face to the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Department.

But while it only takes a few hours to get the digital ID, actually using it somewhere may take a few more months.

New Mexico currently doesn’t have airport security checkpoints that allow for digital ID, it’s illegal to drive without a physical license in the state,  and restaurants, liquor stores and cannabis shops may take a while to adopt the technology to use it.
Restaurants and other venues that sell liquor are going to need training, said Carol Wight, the chief executive officer at the New Mexico Restaurant Association.

“We’ve got to start educating folks, the general public and the people who are taking these IDs,” Wight said. “So it will probably take a couple of years before this becomes what everybody’s using.”

Wight said top officials at the Department of Taxation and Revenue alerted her to the program’s start in a call last week, and that the New Mexico Restaurant Association will plan a webinar on the program in coming weeks.

State licensing officials sent emails to businesses on Thursday, notifying them that digital IDs can now be used for purchasing age-restricted items such as alcohol, cannabis and tobacco.

The state released a verification app the state created called NM Verifier, which businesses can use to read the digital IDs in order to sell age-restricted items.

A spokesperson at the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Department did not provide answers Friday to questions about how many digital IDs have been issued, and how many businesses have downloaded NM Verifier.

The federal Transportation Security Administration allows digital IDs to pass through airport security checkpoints in places around the country, but hasn’t installed the technology yet in New Mexico airports.

The state’s announcement said that digital IDs will be able to be used at Albuquerque’s Sunport and Hobbs-based Lea County Regional Airport “in coming weeks,” but no other details were available.

A spokesperson for the Sunport deferred comment to the regional TSA office in Albuquerque, who did not respond to Source NM calls or emails for comment.
Lea County officials said they were surprised by the announcement, and said they would seek additional information from TSA officials before making a comment.