The deadline is approaching for nine states that have yet to update state IDs in compliance with the REAL ID Act, which was passed in 2005.
As a result, residents in those nine states will have to present a valid U.S. passport or other identification -- instead of previously used drivers licenses or IDs -- to travel within the U.S. and beyond.
Travelers who live in the following states will be affected:
Kentucky
Maine
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Washington
Other forms of identification that will be accepted by TSA at airports for travelers living in those nine states will be a permanent resident card/green card or a military ID. Other forms of acceptable identification are listed on the official TSA website.
Some states have started working to provide residents with other forms of federally approved identification that would allow travelers to avoid ordering a passport for domestic travel, Forbes reported. Those in Washington have the option to apply for enhanced drivers licenses, which adhere to the REAL ID Act specifications but cost significantly more than regular IDs.
Travelers are encouraged to check with local government officials for any potential options.
Those who visit airports starting Jan. 22 without acceptable identification will not be allowed through airport security.
The REAL ID Act came after 9/11 as an effort to ensure safer travel within the US. According to Clark Howard, despite the fact that Congress passed the act 10 years ago, enforcement of the new regulations wasnt pushed until 2013.
Some of the nine states are scrambling to update state IDs to meet compliance standards in the next three months, and others have requested REAL ID compliance extensions from the Department of Homeland Security. Budget shortages have delayed some states, including Oklahoma, from making the ID updates.
Despite all extensions, there is a hard deadline for states to require compliant REAL IDs: Oct. 1, 2020.
There are no anticipated changes to the enforcement schedule, and we are tracking that by 2020, 15 years after this act has been passed, that DHS will require that all states are compliant with Real ID as per federal law, DHS spokeswoman Justine Whelan said, according to The Washington Post.
It is a critically important 9/11 Commission recommendation that others have been willing to ignore, but I will not, John Kelly, President Donald Trumps former homeland security secretary and current chief of staff, said in June. I will ensure it is implemented on schedule -- with no extension -- for states that are not taking it seriously.
Those who live in one of the nine states that do not have TSA-compliant IDs may want to consider ordering a passport sooner rather than later. It generally takes four to six weeks to process passport orders, according to the Department of State.
