By BRIDGET BROWN, Related Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The deadline to get a REAL ID is quick approaching after years of postponements and delays.

Beginning Could 7, your license or identification card will should be REAL ID-compliant to fly domestically within the U.S.

Sadly, it doesn’t look like there might be one other delay within the deadline this time. So, in case you’re confused about the right way to get a REAL ID, why you even want one within the first place, and what occurs in case you don’t have one by Could 7, listed here are some issues to know:

What’s a REAL ID?

It’s a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that the DHS says is a safer type of identification. Apart from needing a REAL ID to fly domestically, additionally, you will want one to entry sure federal buildings and amenities.

Why is that this taking place?

When the REAL ID Act was signed into legislation in 2005, it enacted a suggestion from the 9/11 Fee that the federal government set safety requirements for state-issued driver’s licenses and IDs.

“REAL ID is a coordinated effort by the federal government to improve the reliability and accuracy of driver’s licenses and identification cards,” John Essig, the Transportation Safety Administration’s Safety Director for airports within the New York Metropolis area stated in a press launch on April 3. “The improvements are intended to inhibit terrorists’ ability to evade detection by using fraudulent identification.”

The REAL ID Act was supposed to start rolling out in 2008, “but has faced repeated delays due to state implementation challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated Nina Ruggiero, senior editorial director for Journey + Leisure. “The combination of varying state processes and shifting deadlines has added to the overall confusion around REAL IDs and likely led some travelers to take the deadlines less seriously.”

How do I do know if I have already got a REAL ID?

When you’ve gotten a brand new ID in the previous couple of years, it might already be REAL ID-compliant.

“I also hear from travelers who are confused as to whether or not they already have a REAL ID,” Ruggiero stated. “Some people who have recently renewed their license may already have a compliant ID and not know it,” so it’s possible you’ll wish to double-check yours earlier than beginning the method.

A REAL ID-compliant driver’s license has a logo ( in most states, a star ) within the high nook of the cardboard.

When you stay in Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont or Washington, it’s attainable you can have an “enhanced″ ID card as a substitute, which lets you each fly domestically and cross land and sea borders into Mexico and Canada from the U.S. It doesn’t, nonetheless, mean you can fly into both of these nations.

Enhanced IDs can have an American flag icon, in addition to the phrase “enhanced” on the high of the cardboard.

If I don’t have a REAL ID, how do I get one?

The necessities range by state, so you’ll need to go to the web site of your state’s driver’s licensing company to seek out out the particular steps, together with whether or not you’ll must make an appointment at a DMV and what documentation you’ll want while you get there.

What occurs on Could 7? What if I don’t have a REAL ID by then?

When you don’t have a REAL ID by the deadline and also you’re planning to board a home flight, you’ll need to deliver your passport or one other TSA-approved type of identification while you journey.

In any other case, you can face “delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint,” warns TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein.

The deadline has already been pushed again so many occasions. May it’s delayed once more?

In mid-April, a gaggle of state senators from Kentucky requested the company to delay implementing the brand new necessities but once more. They stated the state has restricted appointments accessible to individuals in search of the brand new playing cards and that there was a rush to fulfill the Could 7 deadline.

Nonetheless, TSA spokesperson Dan Velez advised the AP that the company doesn’t intend to delay the REAL ID deadline once more.

As of late April, 81% of vacationers at TSA checkpoints had been presenting acceptable identification, together with a state-issued REAL ID, in accordance with DHS.

Initially Printed: Could 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM EDT