Real IDResidents of 4 states may need more than a driver license to board domestic flights

Published 25 September 2015

Residents of four states — New York, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Louisiana – may soon need more than their driver’s licenses as a means of identification when boarding an aircraft for a domestic flight, DHS says. These states’ licenses do not meet the standards stipulated by DHS under the latest phase of the federal Real ID Act of 2005. Residents from these four states will have to present their passports with them, or some other means of DHS-approved identification, before being allowed on board.

Residents of four states — New York, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Louisiana – may soon need more than their driver’s licenses as a means of identification when boarding an aircraft for a domestic flight, DHS says.

These states’ licenses do not meet the standards stipulated by DHS under the latest phase of the federal Real ID Act of 2005. Residents from these four states will have to present their passports with them, or some other means of DHS-approved identification, before being allowed on board.

DHS does not specify in what way the licenses of these four states fall short of the Real ID requirement. The department says on its Web site that the Real ID-related restrictions – which were originally supposed to go into effect in 2008, but which DHS has extended several times — would be implement following a review of their practicality that would take place “no sooner than 2016.”

The Act established minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibits Federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the Act’s minimum standards,” DHS says.

Individuals holding licenses from noncompliant jurisdictions will need to follow alternative access control procedures for purposes covered by the Act.”

NJ.com reports that New Jersey residents will still be able to use their driver’s licenses to board to board domestic flights. Overseas flights will continue to require a passport.

TSA has posted online several forms of acceptable IDs. The list includes a military ID card, a Homeland Security Trusted Traveler card, a foreign passport, a permanent residency card, and a transportation worker identification badge.