No—on the facts you gave, a NYC landlord may request neutral photo ID, but requiring your passport and visa specifically to verify immigration status is evidence of prohibited discrimination, not a routine market-rate rental rule.

Housing §2

Some personal information may be necessary to complete an application for housing: generally, landlords, sellers, and their agents are permitted to request photo identification and other personal information for purposes of running a credit inquiry. This may include a driver’s license or non-driver’s State identification card, a passport, an SSN, or an individual tax identification number (“ITIN”). However, questions related to immigration status or national origin are discouraged and may be a basis for presuming discriminatory animus. For example, if a landlord tells an applicant they will only accept a passport or an SSN for purposes of a credit check and refuses alternative forms of identification or documentation sufficient to run a credit check, such actions may be pretext for discrimination.

Housing §2

There are very limited circumstances in which immigration status is relevant and can factor into one’s eligibility to access certain housing-related benefits. For example, a public housing provider may be required to ask about a benefit applicant’s immigration status to ascertain eligibility for a federal program. However, information requested should be limited to what is required and may not be used as an excuse for discrimination to treat an applicant or tenant less well than others.

Tenant Selection

Qualifications and inquiries must be applied equally to all applicants and must not be influenced by race, national origin, or other protected factors. Fair housing laws generally prohibit housing providers from asking direct or indirect questions that may reveal a person's protected class, even if asked of all applicants. Requiring a passport, birth certificate, or any document that reveals age, race, national origin, or alienage/citizenship status; and, These types of questions could be evidence of a fair housing violation.

Your landlord cannot deny you a lease, refuse to rent to you, or demand special papers from you just because of your immigration status.

§ 37.11(g)

A DMV may issue a REAL ID driver's license or identification card only to a person who has presented satisfactory evidence of lawful status.

The REAL ID Act applies when an individual presents a state-issued driver’s license or identification card to a federal agency for an ‘official purpose’ as defined in the Act and regulations, such as boarding a federally regulated commercial aircraft.

§ 8-107(5)(a)(4)

The provisions of this paragraph (a) shall not apply: (1) to the rental of a housing accommodation, other than a publicly-assisted housing accommodation, in a building which contains housing accommodations for not more than two families living independently of each other, if the owner members of the owner's family reside in one of such housing accommodations, and if the available housing accommodation has not been publicly advertised, listed, or otherwise offered to the general public; or (2) to the rental of a room or rooms in a housing accommodation, other than a publicly-assisted housing accommodation, if such rental is by the occupant of the housing accommodation or by the owner of the housing accommodation and the owner or members of the owner's family reside in such housing accommodation.

If you believe you have been the victim of discrimination in the City of New York, you may file a complaint with the Law Enforcement Bureau of the NYC Commission on Human Rights. For more information on how to report discrimination, how to file a complaint, or about the complaint process, call 311 or (212) 416-0197. Commission services are free of charge. The NYC Human Rights Law requires that the complaint be filed within one year of the last alleged act of discrimination (or three years for gender-based harassment). You cannot file a complaint with the NYC Commission on Human Rights if you have already filed a discrimination complaint based upon the same facts with any other court or agency.

The person with the authority to rent, sell, or deal with applicants to or residents of a housing accommodation may not take harmful actions against a person who filed a discrimination complaint or served as a witness or assisted with another person's complaint. It is illegal for anyone to threaten, coerce, intimidate, or interfere with anyone exercising a fair housing right or anyone assisting others who exercise that right. Even if the original allegation turns out to be unsupported, a retaliation complaint may be supported.