Attention driver’s license holders from the great lands of New York, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and American Samoa: The Department of Homeland Security has no love for you. [Update: Let’s add Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington to the list.]
In 2016, the final phase of the Real ID Act—passed in Congress way back in 2005 under the recommendation of your friends at the 9/11 Commission (never forget)—goes into effect. The Real ID Act defines “real IDs” as those that are obtained only with proof of U.S. citizenship. In the aforementioned States of the Damned, driver’s licenses do not require proof of citizenship and are considered “non-compliant” with the Real ID act, and thus they will no longer be acceptable forms of identification when boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft. This is a significant setback, as Travel + Leisure reports, because 38% of Americans don’t have passports.
If you hold a license from one of these states and have been using it as your ID at airport security, you need to make some changes. You will have a three-month forgiveness period in which you will still be allowed to board your flights, but not without receiving a stern warning from the square-jawed TSA agents working the ID scanners at airports. Going forward, acceptable IDs include passports and passport cards, U.S. military ID cards, enhanced drivers licenses, permanent resident cards, and DHS trusted traveler cards like Global Entry and and NEXUS.
Supposedly the Department of Homeland Security will give a generous heads-up to those individuals with licenses from the States of the Damned, but their idea of ample notice is questionable: I’m a New York state license holder and have yet to have heard a peep from the feds. And while 2016 may still be 14 weeks from now, that’s actually not a lot of time if you’re don’t have a passport or need a renewal—processing times for passports range from 4-6 weeks (assuming government agencies are operating efficiently, and you’re smart enough not to bank on something like that), unless you’re willing to fork over an additional $60 for expedited processing. That’s in addition to the $140 it’ll cost you to apply for a first-time passport or renew your existing one if it’s expired. (Alternately, you can do a passport ID card for $30, but it’s only good for international travel to Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.)