US extends Real ID deadline until May 2025

The enforcement of a law mandating new identification cards to board domestic flights, enter federal buildings, or enter nuclear power plants in the United States has been postponed for another two years.

The Real ID Act will not go into effect until May 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement on Monday. This is the rule’s most recent postponement. The rule’s latest current implementation date was set for May 2023.

The government attributed some of the ongoing delay to “the residual effects of the Covid-19 epidemic.” It was mentioned that getting licenses or identification cards that complied with Real ID became more challenging as a result of the pandemic.

The Real ID Act strengthened the security requirements needed for driver’s licenses and other identification cards to be approved for some activities, such boarding airplanes, in 2005 after the Sept. 11 attacks. A star in the top right corner of a driver’s license or identification card indicates that it is a real ID.

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“This extension will give states the necessary time to ensure that their inhabitants can get a license or identification card that complies with Real ID. According to a news release from the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, “DHS will also use this opportunity to introduce improvements to make the process more effective and accessible.”

Since its initial deadline in 2008, the Real ID rule’s implementation has been periodically postponed, notably during the pandemic. It was originally scheduled to take effect in October 2020, but after states pressed the federal government for an extension owing to Covid challenges, the date was moved back to October 2021. Both of those deadlines were never implemented, and authorities again delayed enforcement until May 2023.