What You Need To Know About Real ID

Does May 7, 2025 mean anything to you? If you like to travel, it probably should. That’s the date that the federal government’s long-delayed Real ID Act officially goes into effect.

But what exactly is the Real ID Act and a Real ID? And what should travelers know? Below, experts break it down.

“The Real ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 to establish stricter security standards for state-issued identification i.e. driver’s licenses,” David Alwadish, the founder and CEO of the passport and visa concierge service ItsEasy.com, told HuffPost.

This federal law stems from the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation for stronger and more standardized ID requirements in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Once put into practice, individuals will need a compliant form of identification for federal purposes, like traveling domestically in the U.S. and accessing federal facilities.

“The law took nearly two decades to implement because each state has different standards and processes for issuing photo IDs,” said Caroline Tanner, a news and trends writer at The Points Guy.

She noted that several states and the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized the law and called for its repeal, citing federal government overreach and administrative burdens on state governments and individual citizens. The ACLU argues that the new system effectively establishes “a single national identity card and database” and facilitates further privacy invasion and data tracking.

“The requirement faced the challenge mainly of getting much of the country to comply by the appropriate deadline, so in an effort to help, the deadlines were repeatedly extended,” said Katy Nastro, a travel expert and spokesperson for the Going travel app. “The COVID pandemic only prolonged the matter.”

“Starting May 7, 2025, standard driver’s licenses will no longer be sufficient for domestic travel,” Alwadish said.

This means that air passengers will need to present a Real ID-compliant license or identification card or another acceptable form of identification when passing through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint.

“Although states have been issuing Real IDs for a few years, just because your state issues compliant IDs doesn’t mean you necessarily received one,” Tanner noted. “Travelers should double-check their ID is Real ID compliant by locating a star or star cutout. If you don’t have a Real ID, you can…