New York residents reminded to get their REAL ID to board an airplane
REAL ID deadline extended to 2025
NEW YORK — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended the REAL ID enforcement date by 24 months, from May 3, 2023, to May 7, 2025, giving travelers additional time to ensure they have driver’s licenses or identification cards that meet the security standards established by the REAL ID Act. As required by the law, following the enforcement deadline, federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), will be prohibited from accepting driver’s licenses and identification cards that do not meet these federal standards.
The extension is necessary, in part, to address the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability to obtain a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card. REAL ID progress over the past two years has been significantly hindered by state driver’s licensing agencies having to work through the backlogs created by the pandemic. Many of these agencies took various steps in response to the pandemic including automatically extending the expiration dates of driver’s licenses and identification cards and shifting operations to appointment only.
