In New Mexico, until you are 21 your driver’s license is vertical (“portrait” in computer talk). Once you turn 21 you can trade it in for the normal horizontal license adults receive (“landscape”).
I’ve been told that some establishments refuse service to anyone who does not have the horizontal license. That is, even after you turn 21, if you haven’t gone to MVD and gotten a new DL, they won’t admit you or serve you. If you don’t head over to MVD on your 21st birthday, you could be turned away from your own celebration.
I guess a private establishment is entitled to set its own rules if the rules are in fact administered across the board with no exceptions. But this sounds a little like a class action lawsuit in waiting to me.
When I was a wee one, here in Virginia, a minor’s license had a photo from the side, a profile shot. When you turned 21, you could get a face-forward photo.
It was well known that many establishments wouldn’t admit anyone who had a profile photo, even if he/she was 21. This was – cough – a good seven or eight years ago. So it’s nothing new in New Mexico.
I always figured it was a scam by the DMV. You had to pay to renew your license when you turned 20, then come back in one year later to get a new one.