Texas state ID card
Get a Texas ID card so you can stop carrying your passport.
How it goes
- 1You arriveYou have moved to Texas and you need ID you can carry.
- 2Your documentsYou gather proof of who you are, where you live, and your status.
- 3You applyYou take them to the office that issues ID cards.
- Your cardYour ID card is issued, and your passport stays at home.
What it costs
A first ID card
Texas law sets the fee for an identification certificate at $15 if you are under 60 years of age, and $5 if you are 60 or older. These are the amounts written in the statute, and what the counter charges today can be different. If you are not a citizen, a permanent resident, a refugee or an asylee, and your card is valid for not more than one year, Texas law sets the fee at $24 instead.
Whether you can get one
Who the card is issued to
You must have your home in Texas. Texas law says the department cannot issue an identification certificate to a person who has not established a domicile in this state. The law sets no minimum age for the card. It says the card must show "UNDER 21" when the holder is under 21 years of age.
If you are not a US citizen
Texas law says a person who is not a citizen can get an identification certificate. You must show the documentation that authorizes you to be in the United States. If you show it, the law says the department cannot refuse you because your permitted stay is short. If you do not show it, the law says the department cannot issue the card.
Documents you need
- Proof of who you areWhat you must show depends on your status. If you are a United States citizen, Texas law says you show proof of your citizenship. If you are not a citizen, you show the documentation that authorizes you to be in the United States. You do not have to show it again if you already gave it to the department. The statute does not name the exact documents the department accepts.
- Proof of where you liveTexas law does not list the documents that prove where you live. It tells the department to write rules setting which documents verify your Texas domicile. The accepted list therefore comes from the department, not from the statute.
Your Social Security Number
What proves your number
Texas law lets the department ask an identification certificate applicant for the same information that Section 521.142 requires. Your Social Security number is part of that information.
If you cannot get a number yet
If you are not eligible for a Social Security number, Texas law accepts proof of that instead of the number. The law writes this rule in the licence application section, Section 521.142. The identification certificate law lets the department require the same information from you. The statute does not say which document counts as that proof.
If your status has an end date
When your card expires
Texas law ties your card to your permitted stay. If you are a citizen, a permanent resident, a refugee or an asylee, the card expires on a date the department sets. If you are not, it expires on whichever comes first: the date the department sets, or the end of your authorized stay. If your stay has no definite end date, the card expires on the first anniversary of the date of issuance. The statute does not say what date the department sets.
How your status is checked
Texas law checks your status through the document you bring. You present documentation issued by the United States agency that authorizes you to be here. If you do not, the department cannot issue the card. The statute names no federal database and no check with another agency.
Where to go
How to apply
Texas law lets the department allow renewal by mail, by telephone, or over the Internet. The statute does not describe how to make a first application for the card. That comes from the department, not from the law.
Other states
Every source, quoted11 sources
Every fact on this page is quoted from the page that publishes it, in the words it uses.
“The fee for a personal identification certificate is: (1) $15 for a person under 60 years of age; (2) $5 for a person 60 years of age or older; and (3) $20 for a person subject to the registration requirements under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure.”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“the fee for a driver's license or personal identification certificate that is issued to a person who is not a citizen, national, or legal permanent resident of the United States or a refugee or asylee lawfully admitted into the United States and that is valid for not more than one year is $24.”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“The department may not issue a personal identification certificate to a person who has not established a domicile in this state.”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“The department may not deny a personal identification certificate to an applicant who complies with Subsection (f-2) based on the duration of the person's authorized stay in the United States, as indicated by the documentation presented under Subsection (f-2).”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“Unless the information has been previously provided to the department, the department shall require each applicant for an original, renewal, or duplicate personal identification certificate to furnish to the department: (1) proof of the applicant's United States citizenship; or (2) documentation described by Subsection (f-2).”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“The department shall adopt rules for determining whether a domicile has been established, including rules prescribing the types of documentation the department may require from the applicant to verify the validity of the claimed domicile.”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“The department may require each applicant for an original, renewal, or duplicate personal identification certificate to furnish to the department the information required by Section 521.142.”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“The department shall require an applicant to provide the applicant's social security number or proof that the applicant is not eligible for a social security number.”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“A personal identification certificate: (1) for an applicant who is a citizen, national, or legal permanent resident of the United States or a refugee or asylee lawfully admitted into the United States, expires on a date specified by the department; or (2) for an applicant not described by Subdivision (1), expires on: (A) the earlier of: (i) a date specified by the department; or (ii) the expiration date of the applicant's authorized stay in the United States; or (B) the first anniversary of the date of issuance, if there is no definite expiration date for the applicant's authorized stay in the United States.”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“An applicant who is not a citizen of the United States must present to the department documentation issued by the appropriate United States agency that authorizes the applicant to be in the United States.”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
“The department by rule may provide that the holder of a personal identification certificate may renew the certificate by mail, by telephone, over the Internet, or by other electronic means.”
tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/TN/pdf/TN.521.pdfChecked August 25, 2026
Applying for a state ID card in Texas?
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