The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has temporarily suspended its application system for new veteran identification cards due to a “high volume of traffic,” according to a notice when applying to its program on the website.
Veterans seeking to apply for a new veteran ID card were met with a notice telling them that the system was down and they were working on fixing the issue.
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“We are aware some veterans have experienced issues with the application process, but leaders of VA’s Office of Information and Technology are actively engaged in fixing them,” Curtis Cashour, the VA’s press secretary, said in a statement.
“Many veterans have successfully registered for the card since the program was announced, and we are excited finally to begin providing this resource to veterans, fulfilling a promise that was made to them more than two years ago under the previous administration,” he said.
The online application system for the veteran identification cards rolled out last week but has already faced technical issues.
The free identification cards were mandated by Congress in 2015 with the expected roll-out of the cards in 2017.
The ID cards were created as an easy form of proof of service.
After applying for the identification cards, they would be delivered to veterans within the next 60 days. Digital copies would be available to print out until the mailed copies are delivered.
It is unclear how many veterans were able to apply for the identification card before the system was suspended.
The new identification cards do not qualify as official government-issued identification for several uses, and won’t replace VA medical cards or defense retiree cards.
