Feds Postpone REAL ID Deadline to May 2025

Travelers have once again been given additional time to obtain a federally complaint REAL ID to fly.

The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday the deadline for enforcement of REAL ID has been extended from May 3, 2023, to May 7, 2025, giving states two more years to ensure their residents have compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards.

“DHS continues to work closely with U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories to meet REAL ID requirements,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas in a statement. “This extension will give states needed time to ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card.

“DHS will also use this time to implement innovations to make the process more efficient and accessible. We will continue to ensure that the American public can travel safely.”

Federal officials explained that the extension is necessary to address the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability to obtain a REAL ID driver’s license or identification card.

The pandemic has significantly hindered states’ progress of issuing REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards due to many license centers operating at limited capacity, creating backlogs. Many state agencies enacted pandemic policies that slowed the pace of their residents’ conversion of older IDs to REAL ID-compliant ones, including delaying expiration dates on driver’s licenses and identification cards and moving operations to appointments only.

The government has delayed the REAL ID deadline numerous times due to the pand