The New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division will begin issuing new drivers licenses to drivers starting this week in Santa Fe.  The process will roll out in offices around the state by mid-June. 

No one is required to change their licenses, but the MVD says the new licenses will be secure and issued to those who go into the office to renew licenses that are expired.

"If you have an old license, it’s still good," David Harwell, a spokesman for the MVD told the Independent.  "If you have one that’s good for seven or eight years you keep it.  It’s going to take eight to ten years to completely cycle through."

There will be changes, however.  The state is no longer creating licenses at each individual MVD office.  Instead, the licenses will be created at a central issuance process according to the Web site for the program.

New Mexico is the 28th state to implement such an issuance process.

Instead of receiving a license at the office, drivers will instead receive temporary licenses.  The temporary license will be valid for 45 days, but, according to the press release, "the permanent license [will] arrive in the mail within seven to ten days."

Along with the new licenses, the state will start a new "take the temp" program aimed at "law enforcement, airports, hospitals, schools, retail outlets, and anywhere else an ID is required" to let them know the temporary IDs are valid.

The new permanent licenses will feature several new security features to help protect from identity theft and other fraud.  Some features have not been revealed to the public to prevent counterfeits.

“Each face will be matched with bio-metric facial recognition to ensure it’s the real individual, and the license will have additional security features to stop forgeries,” MVD Director Kenneth Ortiz said in a press release.