REAL ID starts in 3 weeks—Are you ready?
Apr 16, 2025, 6:00 PM
A TSA officer checks an ID at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. (Photo courtesy of James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
(Photo courtesy of James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
The REAL ID Act goes into effect in three weeks.
That means, starting May 7, travelers will need either an enhanced driver license, enhanced identification card, U.S. military ID, U.S. passport, U.S. passport card, permanent resident card (green card), federally recognized tribal-issued photo ID, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766), or a foreign passport to meet REAL ID standards and travel domestically.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Administrators, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the Department of Licensing held a news conference Tuesday morning to give the traveling public a gentle reminder that they will need an enhanced driver’s license to travel by air. Otherwise, traveling will be extremely difficult and likely impossible.
“Five hundred thousand people are expected to come to the security checkpoint on May 7, and moving forward who are not ready for REAL ID enforcement,” TSA spokesperson Lorie Danker said. “It is not s strategy to come to the airport on May 7 and move forward without an acceptable form of ID because you’re going to find the delays will be significant and you will likely miss your flight.”
Alternative forms of REAL ID
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The United States Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005. Implementation has been delayed, primarily by COVID-19, but it will happen, and those who plan to travel by air, at any airport in the country, will need to be ready. However, there are alternative forms of ID that are acceptable at the TSA Checkpoint.
“That includes the U.S. passport or passport card, active duty military credential, as well as credentials issued to dependents, a DHS Trusted Traveler credential, such as your Global Entry card, or your Nexus card, a foreign government issued passport, a Canadian provencial driver’s license, and the list goes on,” Danker said.
For a complete list of acceptable forms of identification, visit the TSA’s website.
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