(NEXSTAR) — Back in May, after several years of delays, authorities began imposing the REAL ID requirement to board flights and enter nuclear power plants and certain federal buildings. While authorities had warned that trying to fly without a complaint ID could slow you down, a recently proposed rule means it could also cost you.
There’s a high likelihood that there is already a REAL ID compliant identification card in your purse or wallet, as more than 80% of Americans are already in compliance, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said earlier this year. A vast majority of travelers have also arrived at the airport with compliant documents since enforcement began.
If you don’t have a form of ID that complies with the federal standard, like your driver’s license or passport, the TSA says you can still fly. You will be notified of your non-compliance, the agency warns, and may have to undergo additional security screening.
A newly-proposed rule could also change that process.
Submitted to the Federal Register for public comment on Thursday, the proposal says the TSA “is launching a modernized alternative identity verification program for individuals who present at the TSA checkpoint without the required acceptable form of identification.”
Let’s say you arrive at a TSA checkpoint without such a form of identification. Under the new “modernized” program, you could still “gain access to the sterile area of an airport” if your identity can be “established” — but you would have to fork over $18.
The fee, the TSA argues, would “address the government-incurred costs.”
To confirm your identity and ensure you aren’t on a Secure Flight watch list, the rules says you would have to submit “biographic and/or biometric information.”
The program would also be considered optional, and does not guarantee that you would be allowed into the “sterile area of an airport.” There may still be an additional screening processes and delays, the TSA warns.
The verification would, however, be good for 10 days, meaning you would not have to pay the fee again if your total trip is short enough.
The agency says it believes the program would “increase efficiency” and “substantially increase the number of individuals for whom TSA can provide alternative identity verification.”
“This notice serves as a next step in the process in REAL ID compliance, which was signed into law more than 20 years ago and finally implemented by Secretary Noem as of May 2025,” a TSA spokesperson said when contacted by Nexstar about the new proposal. “TSA is working with stakeholders and partners to ensure both security and efficiency at our checkpoints. Additional guidance will be announced in the coming days.”
You may already have a REAL ID
Many states have been issuing REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards for years, which means you may already have one.
If there is a star on your driver’s license or state ID card, you have a REAL ID-compliant card. The star may be black or gold, completely filled in or just the outline. Either way, you’re compliant.
Some states — Minnesota, Michigan, New York, and Vermont — issue REAL ID-compliant IDs and enhanced driver’s licenses (Washington only issues the latter). State-enhanced driver’s licenses are marked with a flag rather than a star and include a chip that can make it easier to enter the U.S. by land or sea from Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. REAL IDs cannot be used for crossing the borders.
If you don’t have a star on your driver’s license, TSA will accept other documents:
- U.S. passport or passport card
- Foreign government-issued passport
- Veteran Health Identification Card
- DHS trusted traveler cards
- Department of Defense ID (including those issued to dependents)
- Permanent resident card
- Border crossing card
- Acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards
- HSPD-12 PIV cards
- 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
You can find more details about TSA’s screening process here.
REAL IDs are optional and the need for one will vary based on your situation.