On Aug. 7, Christine Orme tried to renew her Alberta driver’s licence.
She brought her old licence, her health care card, her birth certificate and her expired passport to the registry office to get the province’s new three-in-one identification card.
But Orme said that wasn’t enough.
“They said because my former married name was on my current birth certificate, I needed to produce my original marriage certificate,” Orme said.
That’s the certificate from Orme’s first marriage, which she said she no longer has. Her passport didn’t work, because it’s expired.
“I was handed an application to get my former marriage certificate at a cost (of) $45, which will take 45 days,” Orme said.
That might be too long for Orme. She drives for work and her licence will expire on her birthday on Aug. 30.
“Everything is costing me,” she said, “and I haven’t even paid the renewal fee for the licence yet because I can’t get it.”
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Since July 2, anyone renewing their driver’s licence in Alberta will also have their health care number and citizenship marker on the document.
The province says a birth certificate, passport, citizenship certificate or NEXUS card can confirm citizenship.
Married women like Orme say they’re having problems when their documents don’t match, because some have their maiden name and others have their married name.
“My birth certificate doesn’t match my licence, so I couldn’t renew it. I had to either have a valid passport or my marriage certificate,” said Wendy Oszust.
Oszust ran into the same problem. Her passport is expired and after more than 40 years of marriage, she doesn’t know where that paper has gone.
“I’ve applied for a marriage licence through the registry office and paid for that,” Oszust said. “Now, I just have to wait until it arrives in the mail.”
When asked about the problem, the province says it’s asking Albertans to be patient with registry agents and make sure they have the right documents with them when they go in to renew.
“We’re sending reminders 60 and 30 days before Albertans’ cards expire so they know what documents they’ll need and have time to track them down,” a statement from the Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction ministry said.
“If someone no longer has a document they need, such as an Alberta marriage certificate, they can order a replacement at a registry.”
These drivers say that doesn’t address the expense of getting new documents.
“It’s costing me wages, on top of the inconvenience of getting a certificate I will use for no other purpose than to prove who I am,” Orme said.
They’re also warning other drivers to check their documents ahead of time to avoid the same problem.
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