REAL ID requirement, Day 1, at Mobile Regional Airport — what travelers should know
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After years of hearing it was coming, the 'enforcement deadline' for having a REAL ID, also known as STAR ID, is finally here.
If you're planning on travelling anytime soon, you might want to double-check your driver's license. It should have a REAL ID star on the front.
'If they have a star in the corner, they have a REAL ID or as Alabama has termed it STAR ID,' Joshua Thompson with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.
The star in the top corner means you're set to go. For anyone 18 and older, the star is required to fly domestically, enter certain federal buildings, or even to use TSA pre-check, unless you have a passport and or other federally accepted forms of ID that you can use in its place.
Now that deadline is here, the big question, is everyone prepared? WKRG News 5 spoke with passengers to find out who's ready.
'My license actually expires in June and I did not have time to do my REAL ID, but I knew I could take my passport. So I brought my passport with me,' Christine Newbegin, a traveler from Madison, Wisconsin said.
'I got it last August,' Levy Knox, a Mobile resident travelling to Atlanta, said. 'I believe that opportunity comes through those who are prepared. So we need to be prepared.'
But if you don't have your STAR ID yet, that doesn't mean you have to panic.
'You can still obtain your STAR ID after today. Today is just the day that it goes into effect,' Thompson said. 'You can still travel domestically, you can still access federal buildings. You just might need a different proof of identification.'
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So if you've got a trip coming up and no gold star, you might want to pack your passport.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
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