WASHINGTON — A draft legislation in the Congress will check the immigration status of applicants applying for a new driver’s license or renewing it.

The new bill, all but certain to pass, also calls for an identity database, amounting to what critics label as a national ID.

The requirements will apply to all 50 states and other jurisdictions that issue licenses.

State officials complain that the new requirements will add a costly, complicated burden to the issuance of driver’s licenses, which has been their responsibility for almost a century.

The proposed regulations, intended to deter terrorist attacks, would replace a provision of the intelligence bill passed in December that called on state and federal agencies to develop new rules for licenses. That law did not specifically require states to check the citizenship or immigration status of applicants.

Eleven states now grant driver’s licenses to noncitizens who do not have visas. There is no reliable estimate of how many licenses have been issued to noncitizens, whether in the country legally or illegally.

The 11 states are Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Some of the ideas in the new measure were considered and dropped in December. But conservative members of the House, led by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Republican of Wisconsin, threatened to block passage of the intelligence bill, and won an agreement that they could try again this year. They got a pledge from the leadership to include the driver’s license measures in a must-pass bill this year.

In July, Tennessee began issuing driver’s licenses marked: “For driving purposes only. Not valid for identification.” The license, given to people who cannot supply proof that they are in the state legally, is printed vertically, to distinguish it from most other driver’s licenses, which are horizontal.

Under the rules being considered, before granting a driver’s license, a state would have to require proof of citizenship or legal presence, proof of an address and proof of a Social Security number. It would need to check the legal status of noncitizens against a national immigration database, to save copies of any documents shown and to store a digital image of the face of each applicant.

The licenses issued must include the driver’s address and a digital photograph, and would incorporate new authentication features designed to prevent counterfeits. The new law would also require that the licenses of legal temporary residents expire when their visas do. The rules would also apply to renewals, an aide involved in the conference said.

Supporters of the law say it addresses important security problems and note that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used driver’s licenses as identification when checking in for their flights, and that a few had expired visas.

Supporters also say the measure will help control illegal immigration. Caroline Espinosa, a spokeswoman for NumbersUSA, a group that lobbies for tighter borders and tougher immigration laws, said, “This is really targeted toward national security, but a side effect would be discouraging illegal immigrants from coming into the United States and making it more difficult for them to open a bank account, buy a house, rent a car or buy a car.”

State officials and some senators say the new provision, known as the Real ID measure, imposes verification procedures — like the authentication of birth certificates — that would be difficult for even the federal government to meet.

Privacy advocates have raised criticisms. Timothy D. Sparapani, the chief lobbyist on privacy issues for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the standardized license would amount to a national identification card. And with the data accessible in a single database, he said, “This is a recipe for identity-theft disaster.”

The new rules have been propelled by an unlikely combination of factors. House conservatives have said they will not consider an expanded temporary worker program, a goal of President George W. Bush and business groups, until what they call border security measures are adopted. Strategists working with the White House say they have accepted the need to accommodate the conservatives to win support for a package of changes in immigration law.