REAL SLOW

Feds Delay Deadline for REAL ID—Again

Air travelers were initially supposed to get their new ID by mid-2020. Now they’ll have until May 7, 2025.

The Department of Homeland Security has once again delayed the deadline for air travelers to get a REAL ID card, until May 7, 2025—almost half a decade after the new rules were supposed to be in place. The deadline was originally Oct. 1, 2020, but the pandemic forced it to be extended twice to May 3, 2023. The latest delay was attributed, in part, to the lingering impacts of COVID, including pandemic-induced backlogs at state driver’s licensing agencies. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said states need more time “to ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card” and DHS will use the extension “to implement innovations to make the process more efficient and accessible.” Any flyer over 18 will need to show a REAL ID driver’s license or another federally approved ID for domestic flights by the new deadline.