REAL ID Enforcement Starts May 7–Here's What You'll Need To Fly

Forbes

01-05-2025

Beginning May 7, travelers will need a REAL ID or any of about a dozen alternative forms of identification to get through TSA security checkpoints in the United States.
Does your driver's license have a star on it? Then it's a REAL ID.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will require travelers to present a REAL ID-compliant form of identification at airport security checkpoints.
Travelers without a REAL ID or alternative form of acceptable identification will be subject to additional screening and face the possibility of missing their flights.
Besides a REAL ID driver's license, there are roughly a dozen other forms of compliant identification–including passports and military IDs.
After REAL ID enforcement begins, the biggest difference will be that a standard state-issued driver's license will no longer get a traveler through airport security checkpoints. Beginning May 7, a driver's license must be 'enhanced,' or a so-called REAL ID.
In general, a REAL ID looks like a standard driver's license but it has a star in the upper right corner, however, every state's REAL ID looks slightly different. In California, for example, the star is placed inside the silhouette of a bear. In Michigan and Maine, the star is inside an outline of the state. There is an online quiz on the TSA website to help travelers determine whether their driver's license is a standard ID or a REAL ID.
Only if you have a flight booked out of a U.S. airport. Travelers with no immediate travel plans can obtain a REAL ID at their leisure, but before their next flight.
Americans can obtain a REAL ID through their state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). While requirements differ slightly by state, all applicants must provide documentation showing their full legal name and date of birth, two proofs of address and proof of lawful status in the U.S. In addition, applicants must bring a Social Security card or SSA-1099 form or a document that shows both their name and Social Security number, such as a pay stub or W-2 form, according to the Department of Homeland Security website. Some state DMVs are reporting backlogs of REAL ID applications.
Besides a REAL ID driver's license, there are more than a dozen other forms of compliant identification. These include a passport; passport card; Department of Homeland Security-issued trusted traveler card (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST); U.S. Department of Defense ID (military ID, including identification issued to dependents); U.S. permanent resident card (green card); border crossing card; Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe photo ID (including Enhanced Tribal Cards); HSPD-12 PIV Card (issued to federal employees and contractors); foreign government-issued passport; Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card; transportation worker ID credential; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766); U.S. merchant mariner credential; or a Veteran Health ID card (VHIC).
Travelers with a REAL ID should arrive at the airport two hours before departure, as normal. Those without a compliant ID should add an additional hour and expect to be steered to a separate line for additional screening. Travelers without a REAL ID should be prepared that they may miss their flight, a senior TSA official told Forbes.
The TSA's goal is to make sure passengers with REAL IDs are not disrupted or delayed unnecessarily. Those who arrive at the TSA checkpoint without a REAL ID are taking a risk, as there is no guarantee they will get through security. Still, if you have a ticket and boarding pass but no REAL ID, TSA officers will look for alternative ways to help you prove your identity. 'We are used to dealing with people who lose their wallets and IDs,' the TSA official told Forbes, 'and we have ways to vet passengers and make sure we're satisfied the person standing in front of us is the person they say they are.'
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the REAL ID Act of 2005 set higher minimum security standards for issuing state-issued driver's licenses and ID cards necessary to enter federal buildings and fly in the U.S.. While the deadline has been delayed several times since its original 2008 target date, the May 7 enforcement date is firm. 'It's been 20 years. We are doing this,' the TSA official told Forbes.
TSA Now Accepts Digital IDs From These 14 States (Forbes)