In August 2000 the Division of Motor Vehicles began issuing driver licenses without the hologram of the state seal on the license pouch. The issue of licenses without the hologram will be phased in for all types of licenses and ID cards as existing stocks are used up. Licenses without the hologram will be issued until January 16th, 2001. At that time DMV will begin a new contract for producing driver licenses and there will be new security features that will replace the hologram.

The license without the hologram is a valid license and there is no need to replace it when the new contract begins. It is identical to thousands of licenses which were issued before the hologram was used. There are a large number of these that are still valid and are in circulation. A small percentage of people have experienced problems with these licenses being accepted as valid. Unfortunately many retail businesses rely on reference guides that are updated only once a year. These guides do not include any changes that may take place during the year the guide is in circulation.

If you experience a problem, you may use this letter as an explanation for whoever is questioning the validity of the license.

Division of Motor Vehicles
ALASKA