On October 1, 2021 air travelers in the US, 18 years of age or older were going to need “a REAL ID -compliant driver’s license or identification card, state-issued enhanced driver’s license, or another TSA-acceptable form of identification at airport security checkpoints for domestic air travel“, according to the DHS.
With that deadline less than six months away, the date has now been pushed back once again.
The new date where a REAL ID will be required for domestic air travel will now be May 3, 2023. That’s an additional 19 months not to worry about needing this enhanced identification to fly.
The date has been pushed back thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Homeland Security says that “the pandemic has significantly impacted states’ ability to issue REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards, with many driver’s licensing agencies still operating at limited capacity.”
I currently do not have a REAL ID compliant driver’s license and I wasn’t overly concerned about the upcoming deadline. I have a Passport Card which I planned to bring along while flying domestically around the United States.
Find out more from the DHS here.
I am trying to get a valid I D do I can travel by train to New York in the end of June. I have a expired license and I need help in getting a ID.
Seems like this is an old law already and should be done away with. I don’t really know which is worse. The fact that states can’t produce a driver’s license that isn’t good enough to pass basic integrity testing or the slow roll of improving their security around this. Frankly, I’m surprised someone hasn’t come out and labeled this part of Jim Crow 2.0 as burdensome, unjustified, and unnecessary restrictions on travelers, particularly voters of color and other historically disenfranchised communities.