The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that the deadline for U.S. residents to get REAL ID-compliant identification cards has been extended by nearly two years.
The deadline is now May 7, 2025, after being May 3, 2023, with the department citing “the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability to obtain a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card” as the rationale for the extension.
“This extension will give states needed time to ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card. DHS will also use this time to implement innovations to make the process more efficient and accessible. We will continue to ensure that the American public can travel safely,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement Monday.
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Once REAL ID becomes the standard, adults will have to present a compliant identification card when boarding a flight in the United States and going through the TSA security screening.
Only around 52% of people are currently in compliance with REAL ID standards, per CBS News.
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Originally, the deadline for citizens to get prepared for REAL ID was Oct. 1, 2020, but that deadline was pushed back to Oct. 1, 2021, in March 2020 amid the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The second delay was announced in April 2021 and pushed the deadline from Oct. 1, 2021, to May 3, 2023.
