Identification card Header color designates type of document

Driver’s Licenses
Adult ID card

and
Identification Cards

Under 21 ID card
Instruction permit

For more information contact:

Office of Driver Services

P.O. Box 9204
Adult permit Des Moines, IA 50306-9204
800-532-1121 • www.iamvd.com/ods

To report identification fraud:

Motor Vehicle Enforcement

866-908-4636
E-mail: omve@dot.iowa.gov

iowadot.gov
Under 21 permit MM 353 3-10-10
 New driver’s license (DL) and Adult and under 21 temporary document on preprinted security paper
identification (ID) cards
Mailing information on perforated
The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) will attachment may or may not be retained by
soon begin issuing newly designed DL and ID cards. the customer with temporary document.
The revised look and a number of new security
features will make these cards more secure than ever.

The cards will also be processed in a new way. Iowa

is changing from an “over-the-counter” system to a
“central issuance” system. Iowans will leave the driver’s
license station with a temporary document, valid for
30 days and their old DL or ID card. The new DL or ID
card will be mailed in an unmarked envelope, much
the same way credit cards are mailed. The new card
will typically arrive within two weeks, well before the
temporary document expires.

Previously issued licenses, ID cards and permits will

remain valid until their expiration date. The new card Adult and under 21 license shown with features list
format will be issued on the next renewal.
1

Current DL and ID card design 3

4

1 Common back of card (adult and minor) 3 Laser-engraved tactile date of birth
Adult license
2 Laser-engraved ghost 4 Iowa DOT director’s signature
3
4 • All DL and ID cards have a ghost image.
Under 21 license • The portrait has an issuing office number and the Iowa DOT director’s
signature overlapping its edge.
• The 2-D barcode on the back contains all of the data from the front of the
license.
• The front laminate contains an “optically-variable” image of the State of
Iowa’s capitol dome that changes color as one tilts the license for viewing.

2
• When appropriate, text will appear on the front to indicate organ donor,
hearing impaired or deaf, medical alert or medical advance directive.
Adult ID