The deadline for states to comply with REAL ID requirements for driver's licenses and ID cards has been extended by two years from May 2023 to May 2025, giving Americans more time to get compliant ID cards that will be required to board flights at U.S. airports.
The concept of REAL ID came about in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The 9 11 Commission recommended that the federal government establish standards for driver's licenses and identification cards that states and territories must meet.
The bipartisan REAL ID Act was enacted in 2005 with an initial deadline of May 2008 for the ID provisions of the law. Anti-counterfeiting technology, measures to prevent fraud, and the use of documentary evidence and record checks to verify that a person is who they claim to be are among the security standards required by the law.
The states' resistance to the law's requirements and implementation difficulties has resulted in repeated extensions of the REAL ID compliance deadline, first to 2009, then to 2011 followed by further extensions into 2013 and 2020.
The COVID 19 pandemic created new challenges for the REAL ID rollout, as some states temporarily suspended renewals for driver's licenses and ID cards. Following the flu, follow-up extensions were extended to October 2021 and later to May 3rd, 2023.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the deadline to May 2025 will give states time to get a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card. He said that DHS will use this time to implement innovations to make the process more efficient and accessible. We will continue to make sure that the American public can travel safely. As of 2022, all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and four of the five U.S. territories covered by the REAL ID Act are issuing compliant driver's licenses and ID cards. Many of the states were only certified as compliant within the last few years, meaning that many of them still have older IDs that don't meet the standards.
The U.S. Travel Association issued a statement to FOX Business from Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy, praised the decision to extend the REAL ID deadline. U.S. Travel appreciates the DHS leadership for recognizing that with 100 million Americans still without a REAL ID, now is not the time to create significant travel disruptions. This delay helps to give travelers the time necessary to get the credential needed to fly domestically. It is critical that DHS find ways to modernize identification standards to make the entire travel process more efficient. Barnes stated that we will continue to work with our partners in the travel industry and DHS to advance these solutions and get the traveling public fully prepared for the implementation of the REAL ID Act in 2025.
After the new deadline on May 8, 2025, travelers who board flights in the U.S. will have to have a REAL ID-compliant form of identification unless they have an acceptable alternative document, such as a passport.