Illinois State Identification Cards for Person with a Disability

A special Illinois Identification Card known as the Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card for Illinois, issued by the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, is available for Illinois residents with certain disabilities. The card is simply a driver’s license or identification card that substantiates that a person meets certain disability criteria under Illinois law.

• There is no fee.
• The ID is valid for 10 years (so must be renewed).
• Applicant must provide an Application for an Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card that has been completed by the applicant’s physician.
• Applicant may choose either to obtain a REAL ID Illinois Person with a Disability state ID card or a standard Illinois Person with a Disability ID card
• Standard Illinois Person with a Disability ID cards will not be accepted as proof of identity at places including airports, military bases, and secure federal facilities on/after October 1, 2021.

State ID cards available to Illinois residents include

• REAL ID Illinois Person with a Disability state ID cards
• Standard Illinois Person with a Disability state ID cards
• REAL ID state ID cards
• Standard state ID cards.

Illinois Person With A Disability State ID Cards

Illinois-issued state identification (ID) cards can help Illinois residents prove identity (e.g. when banking or traveling).

To be eligible for an Illinois Person with a Disability ID card, the applicant must be impaired by and must be expected to continue indefinitely to be impaired by one of the following five types of disabilities:

1. Physical disability: a physical impairment, disease, or loss that is of a permanent nature and that substantially limits physical ability or motor skills.
2. Developmental disability: a disability attributable to an intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or autism or any other condition that results in impairment similar to that caused by an intellectual disability and requires services similar to those required by persons with intellectual disabilities. Such a disability must originate before the age of 18 years, be expected to continue indefinitely, and constitute a substantial disability.
3. Visual disability: blindness, or central vision acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens. An eye that is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision so that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees shall be considered as having a central vision acuity of 20/200 or less.
4. Hearing disability: a disability that results in the complete absence of hearing, or hearing that with sound enhancing or magnifying equipment is so impaired as to require the use of sensory input other than hearing as the principal means of receiving spoken language.
5. Mental disability: a significant impairment of an individual’s cognitive, affective, or relational abilities that may require intervention and may be a recognized, medically diagnosable illness or disorder.

Furthermore, the physician must classify each disability of the applicant that is prioritized on the application as Class 1, Class 1a, Class 2, or Class 2a disability.

• A disability is classified as “Class 1” when the disability does not render a person unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity or impair the person’s ability to live independently or to perform labor or services for which that person is qualified.
• A Class 1a disability is a Class 1 disability that renders a person unable to walk 200 feet or more unassisted by another person or without the aid of a walker, crutches, braces, prosthetic device or a wheelchair, or without great difficulty or discomfort due to the following impairments: neurologic, orthopedic, oncological, respiratory, cardiac, arthritic disorder, blindness, or the loss of function or absence of a limb or limbs.
• A disability is classified as “Class 2” when the disability renders a person unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity, substantially impairs the person’s ability to live independently without supervision or in-home support services, or substantially impairs the person’s ability to perform labor or services for which that person is qualified or significantly restricts the labor or services that person is able to perform.
• A Class 2a disability is a Class 2 disability that renders a person unable to walk 200 feet or more unassisted by another person or without the aid of a walker, crutches, braces, prosthetic device or a wheelchair, or without great difficulty or discomfort due to the following impairments: neurologic, orthopedic, oncological, respiratory, cardiac, arthritic disorder, blindness, or the loss of function or absence of a limb or limbs.

Applicants may choose either a REAL ID Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card or a standard Illinois Person with a Disability Identification Card state ID card. Current standard Illinois IDs will be accepted to board domestic flights and to enter military bases or secure federal facilities until October 1, 2021. Standard state ID cards will not be accepted at airports, military bases, and secure federal facilities on/after October 1, 2021.

Source: (15 ILCS 335/) Illinois Identification Card Act.