Real ID card needed by 2025 for domestic flights
By: Anaris Encinas
USA Today
..... If you plan on flying around the country in 2025 and beyond, you might want to listen up.
.....
You have about 365 days to make your state-issued driver's license or identification "Real ID" compliant, per the Department of Homeland Security.
..... the Real ID compliance is part of a larger act passed by Congress in 2005 to set "minimum security standards" for the distribution of identification materials, including driver's licenses. which means that certain federal agency like the Transportation Security Administration or DHS, won't be able to accept state-issued forms of identification without the Real ID seal.
..... It's taken a while for the compliance to stick, with DHS originally giving a 2020 deadline before pushing it back a year, then another two years and another two years after that because of "backlogged transaction: at motor vehicle department offices nationwide according to previous USA Today reporting.
..... You will need a Real ID card to enter nuclear power plants or access certain other facilities - but for most people, it's all about boarding flights.
..... You will not be able to "board federally regulated commercial aircrafts" if your identification documents aren't Real ID compliant by May 7, 2025, according to DHS. However the cards can't be used to travel across any international border, according to DHS.
.....
Do you have to get a Real ID? Not necessarily. If you have another from of identification that TSA accepts, then there probably isn't an immediate reason to obtain one, at least for travel purposes. But if you don't have another form of identification and would like to travel around the country in the near future, you should try to obtain one.
..... Here are all the other TSA-approved forms of identifications:
* State-issued Enhanced Driver's License
* U.S. passport or passport card
* DHS trusted travelers cards (Global entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
* U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
* Permanent resident card.
* Border crossing card.
* An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe.
* HSPD-12 PIV card.
* Foreign government-issued passport.
* Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card.
* Transpiration worker identification credential.
* U.S. citizenship and Immigration Service Employment authorization card (I-766)
* U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
* Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)
..... However, federal agencies "may only accept" sate-issued driver's license or identification cards that are Real ID compliant if you are trying to gain access to a federal facility, That includes TSA security checkpoints.
..... Enhanced driver's licenses are only issued by Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Vermont.
..... To get a Real ID head over to your local department of motor vehicles.
..... Every state is different, so the documents needed to verify your identity will vary, DHS says that, at minimum, you will be asked to producer your full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, two proofs of address of principal residence and lawful status.