The day is fast approaching. Starting on May 7, in order to board a domestic flight or enter a federal building in the U.S., you will have to show a form of “REAL ID compliant” identification.
What does that mean? You’re forgiven if you don’t know, or forgot. The law mandating the change was passed 20 years ago during the Bush administration as a response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“The idea was we would stop terrorism by having stricter licensing requirements,” said Jay Stanley, a privacy-focused policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, which has long opposed the law. “I don’t know if anybody really thinks that having stricter documentary requirements at the DMV is going to stop a terrorist attack, but nonetheless, that notion took hold.”
The enforcement of REAL ID policies has been repeatedly delayed over the last two decades, partially due to political pushback — at one point, 25 states, controlled by Democrats and Republicans, legislatively rejected the law because they saw it as moving the country closer to a national ID system.
“Americans have never supported the idea of a national identity card, going back to World War II when it was thought of as something that Nazis would ask for,” explained Stanley.
The Department of Homeland Security maintains that REAL ID is not a national ID, but rather a “national set of standards.” The federal agency insists it won’t create a federal database of Americans’ information.
The new type of ID raises the bar on how much information you need to provide in order to get a driver’s license that allows you to fly domestically. And that change is causing a lot of confusion.
“We did a virtual town hall on this topic about a month ago — it was the most popular virtual town hall we’ve ever had, since we started them in 2020,” said Justin Flagg, the director of communications for State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan). Normally, Krueger’s town halls get a few hundred attendees, Flagg said; this one got almost 1,400.
If you’re worried about complying with the new identification requirements, here’s what you need to know:
A REAL ID is a state-issued driver’s license or non-driver ID card that is compliant with the rules of the REAL ID Act, which is a federal law.
A standard driver’s license will still be recognized for things like driving, voter registration and applying for benefits, but you’ll need a REAL ID if you want to fly in the U.S. without showing your passport. You can’t just show your standard driver’s license to the TSA anymore.
If you have a New York driver’s license, you can tell if it’s REAL ID-compliant by checking for a star on the upper right corner. Standard IDs will be blank there. Enhanced IDs, which allow you to cross into Canada and Mexico without a passport and cost $30, are also REAL ID compliant: They have a waving American flag image in the top right corner.
This brings us to an important clarification: You don’t need to have a REAL ID (aka a REAL ID driver’s license) in order for your form of identification to be REAL ID compliant. Along with the Enhanced ID, you’re also REAL ID compliant if you have a U.S. permanent resident card or a U.S. passport.
Sometimes, you’ll hear “REAL ID” casually referring to one of these other methods of identification: For example, New York Department of Motor Vehicles spokesperson Walter McClure told CNN “an Enhanced ID is a REAL ID. Well, REAL ID compliant.”
To recap, the following are REAL ID compliant documents that can be used in the place of a REAL ID:
- Enhanced ID
- Permanent resident card
- U.S. Passport
What will happen if I don’t get a REAL ID?
Starting May 7, a REAL ID compliant form of identification will be needed in order to board domestic flights and to enter certain federal buildings like courthouses, as well as military bases and nuclear power plants.
As long as you have a U.S. passport, you do not need a REAL ID. But if you’re someone who frequently flies within the U.S., or regularly visits federal buildings, it may make more sense to just update your driver’s license to a REAL ID rather than carrying around your passport.
If you try to board a plane without REAL ID after May 7, you may still be allowed on — but not without additional security screening and delays, according to the TSA guidelines. And it’s not a guarantee.
To get a REAL ID, you have to visit the DMV in person and bring documents that verify your identity, citizenship or lawful status, Social Security number, and two proofs of residency in New York. This interactive guide from the New York DMV can help you figure out the exact documentation you’ll need.
Depending on who you are — your citizenship status, whether you already have a New York State driver’s license and/or a passport — you’ll have to provide different documents.
Notably, for a REAL ID you need a Social Security number or a letter from the Social Security office stating that you’re ineligible for a number, like if you’re here on a student visa. If you don’t already have a New York State license, you’ll need to bring in your physical Social Security card — otherwise, you can bring in a tax form like a W-2 or 1099.
After you go through the process at the DMV, you’ll be given a temporary REAL ID, and should receive the real thing in the mail a couple of weeks later. However, this temporary license will not allow you to board a flight, so be prepared with your passport, green card, or other TSA-approved forms of identification.
If you’re a U.S. citizen with a U.S. passport — and you’re down with bringing it to the airport, even for domestic travel — not really.
“You do have the option, if you have a passport,” said Krueger in her Feb. 21 town hall. “Just remember to keep it with you more often.”
However, there are still many reasons why you may want to use a REAL ID driver’s license instead. For one, losing your passport has bigger implications than losing a REAL ID. It’s costly to replace (around $165) and can take four to six weeks to get a new one, whereas replacing your driver’s license costs $17.50 and should arrive in less than two weeks.
Renewing passports has also posed challenges for transgender and intersex Americans, whose gender markers sometimes have been reverted to their sex assigned at birth on their new passports under the Trump administration.
Unlike a passport, a state ID doesn’t require any sort of medical verification or court order for your gender: you can just choose between M, F or X at the DMV.
“I got the sense that there is a lot of misinformation circulating right now, because people are very fearful,” said Ethan Lin with Legal Aid’s LGBTQ Law and Policy Unit. “If you don’t need to travel internationally, it’s fine to get the ID, and you can absolutely change your gender marker in any state issued documents,” he said.
For those who don’t have citizenship but do have legal status, immigration attorneys encourage getting a REAL ID.
“A lot of our clients do have employment authorization docs, work permits — those are also REAL IDs, so they would be able to use those,” explained Andrés Santamaria Cortes, an attorney at Make the Road, a New York-based immigrant rights group. “The issue with those documents is they expire,” whereas a REAL ID may last longer.
Cortes added that due to the administration’s attacks on Temporary Protected Status, people could lose access to their work authorization documents.
“It’s just good practice to have a REAL ID from the state where you live so that you can have that form of identification,” he said.
Murad Awawdeh, the president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, agrees that people who are eligible for REAL IDs should get them. However, he advises non-citizens to exercise caution before flying.
“Even if you are a green card holder and you are flying and you’re coming back into the country, you should know what your rights are at a port of entry,” he said. “You have protections as a green card holder or a visa holder, but border patrol has ultimate authority at a point of entry.”
Awawdeh advised that if you’re not a citizen, you should speak with an immigration attorney before taking any trips, or if you have questions about your ability to get a REAL ID.
“If you don’t need to make a trip, you shouldn’t make it,” he said.
