Veterans News: Military ID Card renewals are now available online
Around one million people with Uniformed Services Identification cards will now be able to renew their ID cards online instead of having to visit an office in person. Most USID cardholders, which include military retirees, reservists, spouses and dependents of U.S. servicemembers, can file their requests online and receive new IDs by mail, according to defense officials. The change expands a pilot program that started in February 2023 to allow uniformed sponsors with a common access card to request online renewals of USID cards.
These IDs are required to enter Defense Department facilities and access benefits like health care. DoD issues around 4.5 million ID cards annually and around 2.5 million of those are USID cards. Of those, an estimated one million USIDs can be renewed online.
Online renewal is currently limited to individuals who live in the U.S. but officials are working toward expanding it to non-U.S. addresses too. People with expired IDs or those seeking their first ID card aren’t eligible for online services.
According to officials, allowing more beneficiaries to renew IDs online frees up the pass and ID offices for active duty military and civilian government employees who need to apply for or renew a CAC.
To request an online renewal, the sponsor must be able to log into the ID Card Office online as a CAC holder or have a DoD Self-Service Logon username and password. Sponsors can request a renewal by choosing the Family ID cards tab on the ID Card Office online landing page. https://idco.dmdc.osd.mil/idco/
There are other requirements according to the DoD as well.
The USID card being renewed must be active and not expired. Children are eligible for online USID renewal if they have an active USID card. The sponsor and the cardholder must have email addresses listed in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). The cardholder is required to have a photo saved in DEERS that was taken within the last 12 years, and the cardholder must have a current U.S. address in DEERS. Cards can’t be mailed to P.O. boxes.
Once the request is processed, a new card will be created and mailed to the card recipient at the address listed in DEERS. The sponsor and the cardholder will receive an email once the card ships, directing the sponsor to acknowledge when they’ve received the card. Once the sponsor acknowledges they’ve received it, the new USID card will be activated and the old one will become inactive.
The deactivated card should be returned to the government, to the nearest Real-Time Automated Personnel Identification System (RAPIDS) site or mailed to
DMDC-DSC, Attn: USID Card Returns, 2102 E. 21st St. N, Wichita, KS 67214.
