702Rubi-- glad to see you checked on the link provided to you by a couple of posters regarding the residency in NV. Sounds like you're in good shape.
Some thoughts about the bigger issues and to respond to some of the postings just for the sake of clarity. Please don't assume anything regarding this DL issue -- the complexity of what is going on is mind-boggling.
This entire issue is not about DLs, it's about States being required under a non-funded Federal mandate to issue DLs or IDs, which constitute a national identity program for purposes of creating a centralized, single national identity database. It has nothing to do with State requirements for voter registration, vehicle registration, etc. IMO, it is a colossal federal SCREW-UP being perpetuated by implementing states, who have written bad enabling legislation and un-workable regulations that even DMV people can't understand and it is costing us BILLIONS.
The law is the Real ID Act of 2005. It is a bad law, probably passed unconstitutionally, and aims to allow the Feds to better control immigration and crack-down on States that were issuing legal IDs to illegal aliens. Okay I get that. Only Title II of the law deals with the DL and ID card issue, but make no mistake, this is about invasion of privacy and curtailing your rights.
Want to read about what DHS is requiring? Check here https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-faq-implementation
Why do you care? Because you need a Real ID that is federally recognized to fly on an airplane after 2018, enter federal facilities that require and ID, and enter nuclear power plants. You can use a passport to do the first two, and are you actually going to visit a nuclear power plant???
Every State I have checked still has the option to issue a normal, recognized driver's license that IS NOT a federally compliant Real ID DL. Yes, you can drive, buy insurance, open a checking account, etc. --- at least for now. But my bet is that in a decade or so, you'll need a REAL ID DL or card to buy groceries or a ticket to a sporting event, get utility service etc. and all your data is now shared by all inter-linked 50 states and all the private corporations involved now and in the future. I don't have anything to hide and the gov't can find my anytime they want. But this national identity database stinks IMHO.
1. Every state is required to implement the law and the Dept. of Homeland Security regulations about it, and were supposed to have done so by 2008. It was a very rush-rush kinda thing on the heels of 9/11. But it is a colossal screw-up, for too many reasons to go into, and the final deadline is now 2020. Now what happens with something major like this is that DHS sends out "trainers" or consultants to "help" the States understand what all the various provisions and language in the law means so that States can enact their own laws and regs in order to enforce the federal law. Sorry it is so complex, but that is how all this works. Depending on how smart or diligent a State's legislature and bureaucracy is and what they were told by the likely rushed and ill-informed consultants who guided them, either something workable came out of the process, or something entirely stupid came out.
2. All States are not in the same place in the process. Some states are fully compliant at this point. Some states have flatly refused to implement the law, and other states are somewhere in between and have been granted extensions by DHS. Do not assume that because you recently (or anytime since about 2010) got a DL that it is in fact a Read ID DL, because your state may or may not actually be fully compliant with the Federal requirements, or have been compliant when your last DL was issued.
Here is a link to the information on the status of each State with regard to issuing the national identity IDs.
https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-enforcement-brief
Note for example that Oregon is not fully compliant. You must access YOUR STATES DMV information to determine just what requirements and options are currently in effect. And look at your most recent DL to see if it is actually Real ID compliant. I think all states use a yellow/gold star in the upper right corner to designate a DL that is Real ID compliant.
Back to the Issue of Principal Residence Now Comes the Hard Part, which is complex, so if you don't like details, skip the following.
Definitions. You can't use your own interpretation of what terms mean in a law or regulation, you have to use what definition is given in the law. So let's look at the usage of residential address and similar.
Yes, the federal law specifically mandates that States must require (among other things) "The person's address of principle residence" And please note, this DOES NOT say it has to be a residential address. Big difference.
The DHS regulations implementing the law defines principle residence as "means the location where a person currently resides (i.e. presently resides even if at a temporary address) in conformance with the residency requirements of the State issuing the driver's license or identification card, if such requirements exist.
Nothing in this definition requires that to be a house, or apt. or anything else that in layman's terms means residential! If you live an RV, then so be it. That is where you reside. In the states I have checked, you don't need a home, apartment, so-called residential address to meet the State's requirements for residency. See the snip included with last post for NV definition for example.
The DHS regulations at 6 CFR 37.11 subsection (f) state that at the time of application, a person must present at least two documents of the State's choice that include the individual's name and principal residence. A street address is required except as provided in section 37.17(f) of the part. NOTE: It says street address, NOT residential address.
The mail services I've talked to use street addresses, NOT PO BOXES, so, so far so good.
Your Real DL or ID must show your address of principal residence on the face. The exception provided at Section 37.17 (f) of the federal regulation is titled Address of principal residence and says "Except an alternative address may be displayed for:(3) In areas where a number and street name has not been assigned for U.S. Mail delivery, an address convention used by the U.S Postal Service is acceptable.
Maybe I'm alone in my interpretation, but I don't think anyone's RV has been assigned a number and street name for US mail delivery. And here, the interpretation and application of the rule is important. Your RV may be parked in a location with an address, BUT the RV itself does not have an address, yet the RV is your principal residence according to the definitions. The law does not care about your living arrangements.
There is a lot of interpretation of the rules here, so I may be out of line. But it seems like a reasonable argument to me. South Dakota seems to get it! They state clearly what you need to do regarding the "address" issue, and they are certified as compliant by DHS. I quote from SD DMV: People Who Travel Full Time
If you are using a South Dakota mail forwarding address, you will need to complete the residency affidavit. You will also need to provide a receipt from a South Dakota hotel/motel, campground, or RV park to prove one night of stay within the last year and ONE DOCUMENT (no more than one year old) proving your personal mailbox (PMB) service address (receipt from the PMB business or a piece of mail with your PMB address on it).
If SD can do it, then other States could to. Why aren't they? Well, they have their own agenda!! Or they are just plain wrong.
Nothing requires a residential address!!! meaning home, or apt. etc. I do think that "areas where a number and street name has not been assigned" would cover an RV. Living at a RV park or campground certainly qualifies as a "principal residence" and it is merely a state's lack of wanting to implement workable rules that says you can't use that address because it is a business. Again, their own agenda. Thousands upon thousands of people live and work at the same address. My home address is also a registered business address and that does not disqualify it as my principal residence.
None of us can account for all the BAD DMV rules and implementation that is going on. And none of us likely actually wants to try to fight the clerk at the DMV with a bunch of legalese. But . . then again, your situation may require you to seek help further up the bureaucratic chain and at least you're armed with some basics now.
But it would behoove us to not confuse the terms "residential" and "residency" and domicile, and residential address etc. with the actual, legal term "principal residence" and "address" as it is defined by the Real ID law and regulations as the term pertains to getting drivers licenses. To do otherwise only confuses an already terribly messed-up, unpopular, irksome situation.
BTW, the principal residence address documentation is only one part of what you need now to get a REAL ID compliant DL, if you want one. Be aware that you must have a passport or birth certificate, social security number and any number of other things if you've had name changes, are an alien, etc. and whether or not you have a Real ID DL from another State that you are surrendering. Always check way in advance what your State's requirements are depending on your circumstances so you can be prepared.
Linda