REAL ID AIR TRAVEL REQUIREMENT DELAYED

Americans will have two more years to obtain a Real ID driver’s license or identification card, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday.

U.S. air travelers will be required to present the Real ID credential to board a domestic flight beginning May 7, 2025. Before Monday’s announcement, implementation had been scheduled to take effect May 3, 2023.

Postponing enforcement of the last phase of the Real ID Act will give motor vehicle departments across the country more time to process the new credentials, but will come 17 years after the changes initially were to be in place. States have reported that progress on the Real ID program was hindered by the pandemic.

The law, which set minimum security standards for driver’s licenses and ID cards issued by states after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, originally was to take effect in 2008. About half of Americans with a license or state identification card have a Real ID-compliant document.

Real ID-compliant licenses are marked by a star on the top of the card. In California, upgraded cards also have a gold bear in the upper right corner. A Real ID costs $39 in California, the same price as a driver’s license that is not federally compliant.

Each state, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories have committed to complying with Real ID requirements, federal officials say. DHS has extended the implementation multiple times, most recently postponing an Oct. 1, 2021, deadline to May 3, 2023, to give states more time amid pandemic-related lags at motor vehicle branches.

But as of May this year, compliance rates were still concerning to some travel groups, which had been urging another extension. About 137 million Real IDs had been issued nationwide at that time, which is about 49 percent of state-issued IDs in circulation, according to federal data obtained through the U.S. Travel Association.

Several travel and airport groups worried that implementation next year would lead to confusion and chaotic scenarios at U.S. airports, as noncompliant air travelers would be turned away from boarding domestic aircraft. Although the Transportation Security Administration accepts other forms of Real ID, such as a U.S. passport, none are as ubiquitous as a standard driver’s license.

Real ID is not required for drivers, and air passengers still need a U.S. passport to travel internationally.

Barring future delays, starting on May 7, 2025, every U.S. air traveler 18 years old and older will be required to present a Real ID-compliant license or another form of identification to board a flight.

Also by that date, they will be needed to enter nuclear power plants and access some federal facilities like military bases.