The deadline to require Real ID-compliant identification for air travelers is extending, as the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday it will be extending the start date from May 3, 2023 to May 7, 2025.
The extension will give states more time to make sure residents have driver's licenses and identification cards that conform to enhanced security standards under the Real ID Act. Efforts to provide IDs have been severely hindered by the state driver s licensing agencies having to deal with the backlogs created by the Pandemic, DHS said in a press release.
The deadline for the IDs has already been extended. The deadline for issuing more secure driver licenses was changed from October 2021 to this coming May, because of the pandemic, which made it harder for people to get into state motor vehicle departments to get the new identifications, officials said at the time.
When the enforcement deadline begins in spring of 2015, the Transportation Security Administration will no longer be able to accept non-compliant identifications from travelers ages 18 or older for domestic flights, the department said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in the release that DHS is working with states to meet the requirements and Will use this time to implement innovations to make the process more efficient and accessible.
The new standards were approved by Congress as part of the Real ID Act in 2005, based on a recommendation by the 9 11 Commission. The enhanced security standards for state-issued identification cards and driver's licenses aim to make IDs harder to counterfeit and allow records checks.