The Real ID soft deadline is less tha four months away, but the final Real ID deadline isn’t until May 5, 2027. This May 7, air travelers without Real IDs will be issued warnings by TSA.
The Real ID deadline is less than four months away . . . kind of. The Real ID soft deadline is about four months away, but the “real” Real ID deadline is actually two years away in 2027. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is allowing TSA (Transportation Security Administration) to use a two-year phase-in approach to the hard deadline on May 5, 2027, when you will be required to use Real ID compliant identification to board a commercial aircraft in the U.S. or you won’t fly.
Because barely half of U.S. driver’s licenses are Real ID compliant, TSA will phase-in enforcement of the Real ID law over the next two years.
In their September 12, 2024, report, finalized this month, TSA announced their phase-in approach. They said that as of January 2024, just 56 percent of the nation’s state-issued driver’s licenses and other IDs (DL/OID) were Real ID compliant. DHS decided that a May 2025 hard deadline would cause such a surge of Americans applying for Real IDs that it “could overwhelm states and result in backlogs and delays in Real ID issuance,” and that, in turn, could result in large numbers of Americans unable to fly.
The lack of Real ID compliance is primarily due to DHS extending the Real ID deadline year after year.
In my opinion, the lack of compliance with the Real ID law has been DHS’s fault. DHS “cried wolf” so many times by delaying implementation of the Real ID law that the air traveling public stopped believing that the law would ever be enforced. DHS believes that the phase-in approach will awaken the public, forcing them to realize that there will be no more deadline extensions and that on May 5, 2027, if they don’t have the Real ID, they won’t be able to fly.
Even with the firing of TSA Administrator David Pekoske, originally appointed by President Trump in 2017, I don’t believe that the Trump Administration will alter the current TSA Real ID phase-in plan. Time will tell.
On May 7, 2025, the TSA identification procedure at U.S. airports across the nation will change. I expect some delays at TSA airport checkpoints for everyone starting on that date as TSA and air travelers sort out the new procedure. I expect additional delays for those air travelers without Real IDs.
For now, it’s expected that starting on May 7, 2025, TSA will issue warnings to air travelers who don’t use Real ID identification.
TSA is expected to issue warnings to air travelers without Real ID-compliant identification. TSA has indicated that they will track the warnings. That implies that over time, TSA will use the tracking system to take more severe action, such as interviews to discuss the lack of compliance with the Real ID law, causing further delays for those without Real IDs.
TSA will initially create dual lines for their airport security checkpoints, one for those with Real IDs and one for those without them. I hope that air travelers trying to get through the Real ID line without one will be sent to the back of the correct line. That would immediately create an impetus to obtain a Real ID. Later on, as more people get Real IDs, TSA could go back to one line, and as those without Real IDs present their identification, pull them aside for further action, without impeding those with Real IDs.
Today, TSA hasn’t published its plan for the two-year phase-in. Hopefully, they will publish soon, and it will contain significant incentives for air travelers without Real IDs to get them soon.
Most Americans no longer remember why the Real ID law was created.
I spoke to many Americans about Real ID to find out if they knew the deadline was approaching and why they were required to have one. Most didn’t remember why Real ID would soon be required. The impetus to pass the Real ID law came from the 9/11 Commission, which stated in their report,
“For terrorists, travel documents are as important as weapons.”
Under Real ID, each state and U.S. territory must issue driver’s licenses and non-driver IDs that are dependable, verified identification, and listed in a national computer database system. The idea is to make it impossible or at least extremely difficult to fly using fake identification. With Americans’ identities confirmed before flying using Real ID identification, domestic commercial plane flights presumably will be safer from terrorism than they are today.
Many Americans who haven’t obtained a Real ID don’t realize that they need multiple documents to apply for one. Gathering them may be difficult and/or time-consuming.
I’m warning traveling Americans about the Real ID law, which still has a little more than two years before it takes full effect, because many Americans who haven’t yet obtained them don’t realize that they need multiple documents to apply for a Real ID and gathering them may be difficult and/or time consuming.
To obtain a Real ID, Americans must prove their identity and lawful status. To do so, Americans will need official governmental documentation. Documents that prove identity and lawful status include a birth certificate with a raised seal issued by an authorized governmental agency. Or they need a valid, unexpired passport or passport card, a certificate of U.S. citizenship, a Certificate of Naturalization, and a valid unexpired permanent resident card (Green Card).
Some Americans might have difficulty obtaining a U.S. birth certificate that the government issued them to obtain a real ID. Hospital and midwifery birth certificates are not acceptable. It can take half a year to get one.
Some Americans might have difficulty obtaining a U.S. birth certificate from the state or territory where they were born. Hospital and midwifery birth certificates are not acceptable. It’s taking as long as six months to get a birth certificate from some states and territories. Some citizens born in the U.S. never had their birth registered with the government. Providing enough proof to prove one’s U.S. birth in that case can take years.
You’ll also need to provide an original Social Security card with your Real ID application. A photocopy won’t be accepted. If you can’t find yours, you must apply for a duplicate. If you have an online Social Security Administration account, getting a duplicate card will likely take just two weeks, but it can take much longer. It took nine months for a resident of my building to obtain a duplicate Social Security Card after he applied in 2023.
You’ll also need two proofs of residency, but this is generally easy. Tax forms, your current driver’s license, vehicle registration card, or a computer-generated utility bill are all acceptable proofs of residency.
You need a Real ID unless you’re absolutely, positively never going to fly domestically.
Many people ask me if they really need to have Real ID identification. I tell them they need Real ID identification to fly domestically, and they say they will not. Others who have a passport ask me why I bother about a Real ID driver’s license — a passport is a Real ID identification. If your passport is lost, stolen, or damaged, it’s time-consuming and expensive to get a replacement compared to a state-issued Real ID identification.
Yes, I have a Real ID driver’s license, as does my wife. When flying domestically, our passports are left at home.
If you still need to obtain Real ID-compliant identification, start the process soon to locate the necessary documents. It can take significant time to amass all your documents. Don’t be foolish and wait until the last moment. Get it as soon as you can. You won’t be able to fly without it in just two years.
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After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
