[Innovative]

” By the time I travel in the spring (April or thereabouts) the licence I had in the past will have expired.”

It sounds like you are in CA — if you still have a valid license, it is quite likely they will just send you a form where you can renew your license via mail, a couple of months prior to expiration of your previous license, you send in the form and the fee and they mail you the driver’s license.

“California has tightened up its requirements (unless you are an Illegal, apparently) and is now demanding a Birth Certificate and one more form of ID such as a valid SSN and proof of residence.” — this does not sound right at all — one would think you can just show your old driver’s license, but why let it expire and try to get a new one elsewhere, when it is always easier to just renew it.

I am sure you can find the website yourself, but I looked it up. It says you can apply for a renewal 60 days prior to its expiration:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/dl/dl_info.htm#renewbymail

[Utilizer]

— if you still have a valid license, it is quite likely they will just send you a form where you can renew your license via mail, a couple of months prior to expiration of your previous license, you send in the form and the fee and they mail you the driver’s license.

See in post #41...