Major warning to travelers as new identification law looms with lines at DMVs stretching around the

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Major warning to travelers as new identification law looms with lines at DMVs stretching around the block

Daily Mail
By SONYA GUGLIARA
30 March 2025



Frequent fliers are being warned to expect chaos at Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) locations across the US as the deadline to have a Real ID for travel rapidly approaches.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced passengers must have the upgraded form of identification to board domestic flights without a passport by May 7.

But wait times and a severe lack of DMV appointments has made applying for Real IDs before the deadline nearly impossible for some.

The Real ID Act mandates state-issued IDs to meet federal standards, according to the US Department of State. Real IDs will not only be needed to board flights, but also to enter federal buildings.

DMVs from New Jersey to Tennessee have extended their hours of operations and added hundreds of extra appointment slots to accommodate the hoards of panicked travelers hoping to make the cut-off date.

The DMV's ramped-up efforts have been no match for the demand for the new IDs, however - given one in five US travelers do not already have them, the Wall Street Journal reported.

DHS estimates that roughly 40 percent of driver's licenses and IDs will not be Real ID-compliant by May 7, according to ABC.

Last week, frustrated ID-seekers waited for hours in a line wrapped around the DMV in White Haven, Tennessee.

'It's hot,' Memphis resident Tamara Foxx told WREG as she fanned herself with a piece of paper.

(more)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-14552877/Real-ID-deadline-dmv-warning-domestic-fliers.html

[rustynail]

Got one last week, 40 minute wait.

Cost 48$ for eight years.

[Smokin Joe]

I have had 'Real ID' for years, now. The best is a KTN (Known Traveler Number) from the TSA. If you fly, it saves a bunch of grief.

[catfish1957]

I have had 'Real ID' for years, now. The best is a KTN (Known Traveler Number) from the TSA. If you fly, it saves a bunch of grief.

Same here in Texas.  It's been at least 2 or 3 years.

[DefiantMassRINO]

I'm not getting a Real ID.  I use my passport at airports.

Real ID's are not trustworthy because they are issued by state Governments that may provide them to illegal immigrants.

Why would I trust the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to secure air travel in the United States?

When I worked at the Mass RMV, I had a Forrest Gump moment - without knowing it - I alerted them to a scam where a Mass State Trooper and Mass RMV employee were issuing Mass Drivers' licenses to illegal Domincan immigrants, who presented fraudulent Puerto Rico birth certificates and Social Security Numbers of dead people.

I will not trust the same state government apparatus that let the 9/11 hi-jackers board planes with box-cutters to issue secure ID's.

The Commonwealth loves illegal immigrants more than the security and safety of the general public.

[catfish1957]

I'm not getting a Real ID.  I use my passport at airports.

Real ID's are not trustworthy because they are issued by state Governments that may provide them to illegal immigrants.

Why would I trust the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to secure air travel in the United States?

When I worked at the Mass RMV, I had a Forrest Gump moment - without knowing it - I alerted them to a scam where a Mass State Trooper and Mass RMV employee were issuing Mass Drivers' licenses to illegal Domincan immigrants, who presented fraudulent Puerto Rico birth certificates and Social Security Numbers of dead people.

I will not trust the same state government apparatus that let the 9/11 hi-jackers board planes with box-cutters to issue secure ID's.

The Commonwealth loves illegal immigrants more than the security and safety of the general public.

Didn't realize it was an option.  Here in Texas, I remember being told that if you wanted to board a plane after a certain date, you needed the REAL ID.  Now whether they were bullshitting me, I don't know.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Acceptable Identification at the TSA Checkpoint
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification

[berdie]

Same here in Texas.  It's been at least 2 or 3 years.

@catfish1957 is that the drivers license with a star on it?

If so, I'm good.

[catfish1957]

@catfish1957 is that the drivers license with a star on it?

If so, I'm good.

Yeah, that star is the REAL logo

[berdie]

Yeah, that star is the REAL logo

Gracious.

[LadyLiberty]

Didn't realize it was an option.  Here in Texas, I remember being told that if you wanted to board a plane after a certain date, you needed the REAL ID.  Now whether they were bullshitting me, I don't know.

I'm also in Texas. In 2008, when the Texas DPS began getting ready for the Real ID requirements, the state started requiring a birth certificate for a new or renewed dl.  I saw many people getting turned away from renewing their driver's licenses because they did not bring one in (even though mailed the renewal notice clearly stated that the applicant was required to bring their bc in).

While there are alternatives to a Real ID to board a plane, good luck getting a driver's license renewed without meeting the real id document requirements at the TX DPS!

ETA: They also required applicants to supply their SS card.

[Smokin Joe]

Better yet...

https://www.tsa.gov/precheck

[verga]

Got one last week, 40 minute wait.

Cost 48$ for eight years.

Got  mine when they first came out

[Wingnut]

Got  mine when they first came out

Yup.  You can put blame on States that dragged their feet implementing the Real ID Law.  Hell, Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005.  FL started issuing them in 2010. 

[verga]

Yup.  You can put blame on States that dragged their feet implementing the Real ID Law.  Hell, Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005.  FL started issuing them in 2010.

It has been a while, When I got/ renewed my Driver's license here in VA I brought my birth certificate and that was all it took, Maybe 20-30 minutes at the DMV. Not a big deal.

[GtHawk]

I'm also in Texas. In 2008, when the Texas DPS began getting ready for the Real ID requirements, the state started requiring a birth certificate for a new or renewed dl.  I saw many people getting turned away from renewing their driver's licenses because they did not bring one in (even though mailed the renewal notice clearly stated that the applicant was required to bring their bc in).

While there are alternatives to a Real ID to board a plane, good luck getting a driver's license renewed without meeting the real id document requirements at the TX DPS!

ETA: They also required applicants to supply their SS card.

I had to spend a fair amount of time and money to have my name legally changed to what I had been for 65 years because when my parents were naturalized they changed their name but not us kids. The DMV would happily have given me a license with the name on my birth certificate but it wouldn’t match my life history 🤬