The TSA has granted an extension to states that
aren't compliant with the Real ID Act, giving travelers from those states until Oct. 11, 2018, to
use their driver's license as identification at the airport.
If their states aren't compliant by Oct. 11, residents will
have to present alternative identification at the airport, such as a passport
or military ID. The previous deadline for Real ID compliance was Jan. 22, 2018.
If travelers live in a Real ID compliant state but hold a
noncompliant license, they will be able to use the noncompliant license as ID
until Oct. 1, 2020.
The Real ID Act of 2005 established minimum security-related
requirements for state-issued driver's licenses. Among other provisions, the
law establishes what data states must require before issuing a license and what
data they must subsequently store electronically. It also lays out what
technology must be encoded in the IDs and what data must be printed on the IDs.
Thus far, 27 states have complied with the law while 23
states have either gotten extensions or have extension requests that are
formally under review, according to the Department of Homeland Security
website.