RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina's requirements to obtain a driver's license are weaker than those of many surrounding states, according to a performance audit of the state's driver licensing process released Wednesday.

Court officials in New Jersey have complained that the requirements are so weak that busloads of illegal immigrants drive to North Carolina to obtain licenses fraudulently, the News & Record of Greensboro reported Wednesday.

The audit, administered by the Department of Transportation and the Division of Motor Vehicles, said documents considered acceptable for proof of residency in North Carolina are easily forged, or the information provided by applicants is not verified.

The DOT is responding with tighter regulations. Last year, the department stopped issuing licenses to people holding several forms of foreign identification. Most foreign birth certificates, foreign marriage licenses, military identification cards from Mexico and a popular Mexican identification card known as the matricula consular are no longer accepted.

The REAL ID Act, signed by President Bush in May 2005, further strengthens the security of the Division of Motor Vehicles, the audit said.


But before the act can be applied to North Carolina, differences in federal and state law must be reconciled, said DMV Commissioner George Tatum. For example, the audit states that North Carolina still accepts an individual taxpayer identification number in lieu of a Social Security number, but the REAL ID Act eliminated the ITIN as an acceptable document.

A measure that passed in the state House, but is stalled in the Senate, would restrict licenses for immigrants by issuing them only for the duration of a visa.

State Rep. Cary Allred, R-Alamance, introduced a measure that didn't survive that required individuals prove that they are legally present in the United States to acquire a license.

"North Carolina is known in the nation as the easiest place to get a driver's license," Allred said. "Our requirements for issuing a driver's license are not nearly as stringent as what is going to be required (federally) in order for them to be recognized for commercial purposes or security purposes throughout the nation."

Courts in New Jersey have recently found an unusual number of illegal immigrants with fraudulent driver's licenses issued to them by North Carolina.

The immigrants are coming into the state by the busload to obtain the document, which allows them to drive, work, bank and rent housing, said Sonia Barria, the court administrator for the town of Dover, N.J.

"We have destroyed, I don't know how many, North Carolina licenses," Barria said in an interview with the News & Record of Greensboro. "Right now, we have waiting to be destroyed, one, two, three ... 17 that have been confiscated over the last couple of months."

Immigrant advocates did not return calls for comment left late Wednesday.

The biggest problem with preventing illegal immigrants from obtaining licenses in North Carolina is the low standards of documentation, Allred said.

DMV implemented the Operation Stop Fraud Program in 2003. Among the fraud-prevention measures taken in the program was a reduction in the types of identifications deemed acceptable to U.S.-issued or U.S.-validated documents.

The department is working with the General Assembly to require the proof of legal presence, and improved documentation of residency, state Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett in a letter responding to the audit.

The stop fraud program also implemented social security number verification and the implementation of face recognition technology. Employees were also trained in fraudulent document recognition.

For some the changes are not happening soon enough.

"I detest that we are viewed as a bunch of buffoons and hillbillies," Allred said. "That (we) are so gullible that people in New Jersey can drive down here in busloads and get a North Carolina driver's license."