TSA making it more difficult to fly without a Real ID, but more easily used now

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TSA is making it harder for those without a Real ID to get through airport security, including charging $18 for the privilege. TSA is also making it easier for those with a Real ID mobile driver’s license or U.S. passport to use them at airport security by letting them be digitally loaded into smartphone wallets for use.

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The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) Real ID identification deadline for domestic air travel finally took effect in May. International travel’s physical passport requirement to fly is unchanged.

You can still fly domestically in the U.S. without a Real ID, but at U.S. airports the lines to process those without it at TSA airport checkpoints are often long. A few air travelers have written to me that they’ve spoken to others on their flights who didn’t have a Real ID and learned that it took them from fifteen to thirty minutes to have their identity verified.

The lines at TSA security for those without Real IDs will significantly lengthen during the Thanksgiving holiday causing long delays for those passengers.

The problem for U.S. domestic air travelers without Real IDs during this coming Thanksgiving week is that according to AAA, it’s expected that about six million passengers are going to crowd into airports to fly between November 25 and December 1. That’s a two percent increase from last year. That could dramatically lengthen the lines for passengers without a Real ID as each wades through an extensive verification of their identity at TSA checkpoints. At the busiest U.S. airports, particularly at peak flight times, those lines could easily exceed an hour.

While it takes a little effort to obtain a Real ID, it’s not time consuming or difficult.

For most Americans, obtaining Real ID compliant identification takes a little effort, but it’s not especially time consuming or difficult. To obtain a Real ID, Americans must prove their identity and lawful status. Documents that prove that include: a U.S. birth certificate with a raised seal, issued by an authorized governmental agency (not a hospital or midwife certificate), a valid, unexpired U.S. passport or passport card, a Certificate of Naturalization and a valid unexpired permanent resident card (Green Card).

Some Americans might have a tough time in obtaining their U.S. birth certificate from the state or territory where they were born. To get a Real ID, you’ll need other documents too.

Some Americans might have difficulty in obtaining a U.S. birth certificate from the state or territory where they were born. At this time, it’s taking as long as six months to get a birth certificate from some states and territories. Some citizens born in the U.S. never had their birth registered with a state government. Providing enough proof to prove one’s U.S. birth, in that case, can take years. If you don’t already have a document to prove your identity and lawful status, if you want to fly domestically in the U.S., obtaining it is long overdue.

You’ll also need to provide an original Social Security card with your Real ID application. A photocopy won’t be accepted. If you can’t find yours, you’ll need to apply for a duplicate. If you have an online Social Security Administration account, it will likely take just two weeks to get a duplicate card, but it could take much longer with so many Social Security Administration layoffs this year.

You’ll also need two proofs of residency, but this is generally easy. Tax forms, your current driver’s license, vehicle registration card, or a computer generated utility bill are all acceptable proofs of residency.

It took me just fifteen minutes to get my Real ID at PennDot once I had all the documentation for the application.

With the necessary documents in hand, I went to my local PennDOT driver’s license facility. We have a one time fee ($30 in Pennsylvania) to obtain a Real ID, but after the initial charge, all driver’s licenses cost the same to renew. It took fifteen minutes once I entered the facility until I left with my Real ID license in hand.

Many people ask me if they really need to have Real ID compliant identification. I tell them that unless they can absolutely say that they will never fly domestically, then they need REAL ID identification. In recent months, the delays encountered by air travelers who don’t have a Real ID, prove my point. Air travel is hard enough these days. Why would any traveler want to make it more difficult for themselves?

I don’t recommend using your passport as your Real ID for domestic flights due to its cost of replacement if lost, stolen or damaged and the time it takes to get a replacement compared to driver’s licenses.

Air travelers who have a passport ask me why bother about a Real ID driver’s license since a passport is a Real ID. My answer is simply that if your passport is lost, stolen or damaged, it’s time consuming and expensive to get a replacement compared to replacing a state issued Real ID license. For example, in Pennsylvania, it costs $42.50 and takes less than two weeks to receive a new Real ID license. It costs $130 to replace a U.S. passport and takes from four to six weeks to receive it.

There are new developments for air travelers at TSA airport checkpoints. One is more bad news for those arriving at the airport without a Real ID. The other is good news for air travelers with Real IDs and a smartphone.

TSA is planning to charge air travelers without Real IDs, $18 to verify their identity and have indicated that they may ban those without a Real ID from flying at some point in the future.

In the Federal Register, TSA placed a notice that they are launching a “modernized alternative identity verification program for individuals who present at the TSA checkpoint without the required acceptable form of identification (AFOID), such as a REAL ID or passport.” In the notice, TSA posted that they intend to charge each traveler $18 for using the “identity verification program” (IVP). Travelers without a Real ID who refuse to use the IVP and don’t cooperate with TSA’s identity verification process, as it is today, will not be permitted to pass through TSA airport security checkpoints or fly.

It’s also important to note that in the notice about the new IVP and the fee to use it, TSA stated that in the future they may decide limit the number of times “an individual may use the program if he or she repeatedly fails to present an AFOID when attempting to enter the sterile area.” It’s a TSA warning that in the future, TSA may say to air travelers, that if they don’t have a Real ID, they won’t be allowed to fly until they get a Real ID.

For those with a Real ID mobile driver’s license or a U.S. passport, TSA now accepts them when loaded in their smartphone wallet.

For those who already have a Real ID mobile driver’s license (mDL) (currently 20 states and Puerto Rico) or a U.S. Passport, you can add them digitally into your smartphone to present them to TSA from your smartphone at about 250 airports across the nation, at this time, to gain entrance to TSA airport security checkpoints.

Loading mDLs or your U.S. Passport into your Android based smartphone’s or iPhone’s wallet is fast and easy. It took me eight minutes to load my U.S. Passport (My state doesn’t yet have an mDL.) into my iPhone, including the wait for the ID verification. I’m looking forward to keeping my Real ID license in my pocket with both my Real ID and boarding pass on my iPhone to make it easier to go through TSA airport security.

As time goes on, Real ID holdouts are going to find it harder and more expensive to travel by air. Moreover, it appears from their recent notice that eventually TSA plans to prevent those without a Real ID from flying. It’s time to obtain a Real ID of some kind if you have none, to fly domestically in the U.S.