In my experience, it was 12 years between in-person DPS visits. The first time was a real PITA. The second time I could do it online. The third time I had to get my ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE from Colorado ($$ and time) and gather sundry other documents even though I had already satisfactorily proven my citizenship to the State of Texas in the past and had a valid passport. Then there's the matter of even gaining access to a DPS office, which is no small task in an urban setting. No one is saying the working poor are too "stupid" to navigate this regime. What I (we) am/are saying is that the working poor are sometimes too busy trying to scrape by to jump through these hoops. Again, I invite you to come try it for yourself.
Late to the party here, but...is it possible that the bolded part came when you were upgrading to a RealID? I remember doing that in Missouri the last time I had to renew and it was a genuine PITA. I had the option of getting a non-RealID at the time but I figured I'd need to get it done at some point so I bit the bullet and did it.
Recent Posts
outta there.