So you were born in Maine and you’ve lived here all your life. The person behind the counter at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles is your best friend, and obtaining a license or renewing an old one should be a breeze.

Guess again.

Starting Monday, anyone obtaining or renewing a license or I.D. card will have to jump through extra hoops.

Under the so-called “Real ID” law, anyone seeking a license will have to prove beyond doubt that they are a legal resident of the United States. That means producing certified, current documents proving you are in the country legally.

For some, it may be as simple as digging through the yellowed documents in a wallet or a purse.

“The most common and straightforward method for providing proof of citizenship is by way of a certified birth certificate,” according to a BMV advisory.

For those who do not have birth certificates, things could get trickier. They will be asked to provide a passport, a certified report of birth abroad, a certificate of naturalization, a certificate of U.S. citizenship or a valid U.S. identification card, an American Indian card or a Northern Mariana Island identification card.

Those who cannot produce any of the above will have to follow a secondary process that involves proving that no birth record exists.

The extra attention to detail is the result of legislation passed in April, aimed at reducing the threat of terrorism. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that Mainers could be barred from using licenses to board airplanes or enter federal buildings if the state refused to comply with “Real ID.”

The law has its critics.

Officials at the BMV are worried there will be confusion in already notoriously long lines where people assemble to obtain or renew licenses. Employees at the state bureau are being trained to process licenses under the new regulations.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union has complained that “Real ID” is an invasion of privacy and a waste of money that does nothing to keep people safer.

Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap has been so vocal about opposing the new law that he won an MCLU award for his efforts.

Dunlap has said it would cost Maine between $5 million and $25 million to implement all requirements of “Real ID” and suggested that the program would not prove effective in combating the matter of illegal aliens.

On Friday, Dunlap and other state officials will be at the Nash School Building in Augusta to discuss the new law and how it will affect Maine residents. The news conference is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.