Beginning May 3, 2025, every air traveler 18 years of age and older will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, state-issued enhanced driver’s license, or another acceptable form of ID to fly within the United States, to include Guam and the CNMI.

 

Passed by Congress in 2005, the REAL ID Act enacted the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that the federal government “set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver's licenses. The Act and implementing regulations establish minimum security standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards and prohibit federal agencies from accepting licenses and identification cards from states that do not meet these standards for official purposes, such as getting through the airport security checkpoint to board a plane.

 

Adult passengers 18 and over must show valid identification at the airport checkpoint in order to travel.

 

CBP will only be accepting Driver’s license or Identification cards that are REAL ID Compliant. Travelers that are not in possession of REAL ID must have an alternate form of Government-Issued photo ID such as:

 

U.S. passport

U.S. passport card

DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)

U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents

Permanent resident card

Border crossing card

State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License

Federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID

HSPD-12 PIV card

Foreign government-issued passport

Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card

Transportation worker identification credential

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)

U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential

Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)

 

Children 17 and under may continue to fly with a Government Issued ID and/or original Birth Certificate.

 

For more information about flying with a REAL ID visit tsa.gov/real-id