Should You Worry About Real ID?

This story was updated Jan. 24, at 11 a.m., Eastern.

By Oct. 1, 2020, individual travelers must possess a Real ID to pass through TSA checkpoints at U.S. airports. However, the Department of Homeland Security deadline for states to begin issuing Real IDs, rather than the previous version of driver’s licenses they’d issued, was Jan. 22, 2018. So what does that mean for travel managers and travelers headed to the airport? The short answer is nothing, except for residents of American Samoa. First of all, 27 states, as well as the District of Columbia, already are compliant; people in those states can use their old IDs until Oct. 1, 2020, or can use their new Real IDs as they’re issued.

The remaining 23 states, as well as four territories, have received extensions, meaning they must start issuing Real IDs, as certified by the DHS, by Oct. 10, 2018. What’s made travelers nervous about the Jan. 22 deadline, and now the Oct. 10 extension, is whether existing IDs from those states will get travelers through TSA checkpoints. DHS’s website says, “Starting January 22, 2018, travelers who do not have a license from a compliant state or a state that has been granted an extension … will be asked to provide alternate acceptable identification. If the traveler cannot provide an acceptable form of identification, they will not be permitted through the security checkpoint.”

Don’t ring the alarm bells just yet, though. Of the 23 states and five territories that are not yet compliant, all but American Samoa have extensions until Oct. 10, 2018. That means existing IDs will work until then. And DHS Real ID Program director Steve Yonkers told BTN that 15 of those states likely will become compliant by Oct. 10. As for those that still are not compliant as of Oct. 10, 2018, “DHS will likely provide another grace period for three months to process those extension requests,” he said. Existing IDs would work through that extension period, as well.

For any state or territory that still is not issuing Real IDs when their extensions run out, travelers at TSA checkpoints will need to present certain alternative forms of identification like U.S. passports, trusted traveler cards or permanent resident cards.

American Samoa is the only U.S. entity that, as of Jan. 23, is not compliant and does not have an extension beyond the Jan. 22 deadline. Starting Feb. 5, residents of that territory must show alternative identification to pass through TSA airport checkpoints, according to DHS’s website. Similarly, beginning Oct. 1, 2020, any traveler without a Real ID must present an acceptable alternative form of identification.

Compliant

Residents of these states and territories can pass through TSA airport security checkpoints using existing IDs or, as they're issued, Real IDs.

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Maryland
• Mississippi
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Extensions Granted

Residents of these states and territories can use their existing IDs to pass through airport security until Oct. 10, 2018. DHS is likely to allow another three-month extension after that. If a state or territory runs out of extensions, an unlikely scenario, travelers immediately will need to present alternate forms of identification at airport security. However, once a state or territory becomes compliant within the extended deadline, travelers can continue to use their existing IDs to get through airport security.

• Alaska
• California
• Guam
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Dakota
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Puerto Rico
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Virgin Islands
• Virginia
• Washington 

Noncompliant

Residents of this U.S. territory can use their current IDs to pass through TSA airport checkpoints through Feb. 4. Beginning Feb. 5, they must present an alternative form of identification.

• American Samoa

—Additional reporting by Michael B. Baker