I got a passport in 1997 and they required the real deal. Drivers license or short form certificate or anything else wouldn’t cut it.
*************
All I can say is that in late 2010, the document I have with the information I listed was good enough. I just looked up the State Department requirements, including the new one that birth certificates must have parents’ full names, and the Texas COVR does indeed fulfill them. I suppose the state designed it to be compliant with State Department requirements and/or Real ID legislation.
It remains to be seen if it’s good enough to get her a Texas driver’s license! Funny, in 1992 I got married in Texas and went to get my name changed on my driver’s license, and brought in my marriage license, and they didn’t even ask to see it. They didn’t want any proof at all, they just changed it to what I told them to. I couldn’t believe it. I could have made up any last name any time and got a driver’s license with that name if I just walked in and said I got married. How things have changed.
No doubt, application requirements for passports and other gov’t issued I.D. have changed through the years. I expect that most requirements are tougher than before - not easier.
When I asked, I was told that the reason the I.D. requirements were strengthened in Texas, was due to concerns over illegals, terrorism, and identity fraud.