In the latest update to its REAL ID requirements, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will continue to allow travelers to board airplanes if they present official identification from any U.S. state or territory, including all state-issued driver’s licenses. That means Transportation Security Administration officials at airport screening sites will continue to accept driver’s licenses at least until 2016.
REAL ID, which is based on a law passed in 2005, is designed to establish minimum standards for the production and issuance of state- and territory-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. Ultimately, it will prohibit U.S. federal agencies, including TSA, from accepting non-compliant state or territory IDs from travelers seeking to board federally regulated commercial aircraft.
Under REAL ID, travelers from any U.S. state or territory can present a valid U.S. passport to board federally regulated commercial aircraft.
The REAL ID Act covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
