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Sometimes, it seems like reality is subjective.

Real Housewives.

Fake news. 

Real animals that seem like they should be fake. Don’t try to tell me that you believed narwhals were real when you first learned about them. I mean, unicorn fish? (Yes, I know they’re mammals.)

Narwhal Isolated by Piotr Siedlecki under the CC0 Public Domain License

Fake IDs. (My sister once had a fake ID, a driver’s license that had belonged to a family friend. They even shared a birthday. However, they did not share the same color eyes…and when quizzed by a bouncer, my sister didn’t know what eye color she was supposed to have had. Oops.)

REAL IDs. 

WHAT IS A REAL ID?

Effective October 1, 2020 May 3, 2023 May 7, 2025, the REAL ID Act passed by the Congress in 2005, will finally go into effect. (Note: the date has changed several times due to COVID, but this is the effective date as of the DHS announcement in December 2022.)

As of that date, if you don’t have a REAL ID, identification that complies with the requirements of the REAL ID Act, your access to certain locations will be limited. The act, passed in the shadow of 9/11, did the following: 

1. It set clearer standards for government-issued photo IDs (like driver’s licenses, non-driver ID cards, and other government-issued cards), establishing a uniform set of security standards.
2. The act prohibits any of the various government agencies (including the TSA) from accepting forms of identification that don’t meet the new standards.
3. It’s supposed to add an extra layer of security to the process of flying by making it harder to acquire false documents and use them to board airplanes.

WHY DO YOU NEED A REAL ID? 

Given the above, the main reason people will want to make sure their IDs are REAL ID-compliant is so they can board airplanes to fly for business, pleasure, and those uncategorized trips in between (to take care of ill relatives, look for houses in the cities to which they’re moving, visit a speciality doctor or clinic, or otherwise go somewhere too far away or inconvenient to drive or take the train). Basically, if you want to fly, you’ll need a REAL ID.

“But wait, what about passports?” you may be wondering. That makes you a smartypants! The document you use must be REAL ID-compliant unless you are using using an alternative acceptable document such as a passport or passport card, or a state-issued Enhanced Driver’s License. 

But flying isn’t the only reason you might need a REAL ID. They will also be required to enter federal buildings (such as to give testimony or participate in legal procedings in a federal courthouse, and to enter nuclear power plants. Unless you are Homer Simpson, the former is a bit more likely than the latter, and flying more common than either one.

via GIPHY

Please note: You cannot be required to show a REAL ID to vote. (I mean, unless your assigned polling place is on an airplane, in a federal building, or in a nuclear power plant. But that would be weird.)

As of this writing, there are seven states with voter ID laws, but they only issue REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and state IDs; in Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and South Dakota, you can use an expired license as ID to vote, while in Hawaii, Utah, and Colorado, your ID must be current; in all seven, there are alternatives to using REAL ID. (For more on current state-by-state ID requirements for voting, VoteRiders.org has a great article, How Does Real ID Relate to Voter ID?)

The Act doesn’t require you to present identification anywhere it’s not currently required for accessing a federal facility, like the public areas of the Smithsonian Institute. And, again, the federal building or facility isn’t prohibited from accepting other forms of identity documents (such as a U.S. passport or passport card). But as we’ve discussed before on this blog the majority of Americans do not have valid passports. Currently, only 42% of Americans hold them. Granted, that’s a huge increase in the past few decades. In 1990, only 4% of Americans had passports. When I wrote about Passport Day in 2011, that number had reached 30%.

Children under 18 are not required to have REAL ID-compliant identification.

MINIMUM DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS

For a state-issued ID (whether a driver’s license or other identification card) to be valid to serve as a REAL ID, it must include the following infomation:

• The person’s full legal name.
• The person’s date of birth.
• The person’s gender.
• The person’s driver’s license or identification card number.
• A digital photograph of the person.
• The person’s address of principle residence.
• The person’s signature.
• Physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes.
• A common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements.

In addition, states (and territories) have a whole slew of rules to follow regarding how they must organize and use the documentary evidence they receive. 

For example, states must retain any paper copies of the documents you provide for a minimum of 7 years or scanned/capture images of those source documents for a minimum of 10 years. (I suspect the federal government might need the help of some professional organizers to accomplish all of this!)

Shockingly, some states didn’t previously require photos even for driver’s licenses, but now all REAL IDs will require “facial image capture” and must establish “an effective procedure to confirm or verify a renewing applicant’s information.” (Isn’t it a bit surprising that wasn’t required before?)

All states will need to confirm Social Security account numbers with the Social Security Administration and check with other states to make sure your old licenses have been “terminated.” 

States will also have to limit the validity period of all driver’s licenses and (non-temporary) ID cards to 8 years.

HOW DO YOU GET A REAL ID?

First, gather your documents. You will need to present the following original or certified documents to your state to apply for a REAL ID. 

• Proof to establish citizenship or legal presence – Again, if you have a passport or passport card, you’re covered. Otherwise, you’ll need official documentation to prove you are a citizen.
• Proof of your full Social Security number – Find your official Social Security card. If you’ve lost yours, you’ll want to replace your Social Security card before trying to apply for a REAL ID.
• Two proofs of residency of the state in which you currently reside.
• Documentation of any name changes (due to marriage, divorce, adoption, change of name associated with a gender reassignment, etc.) explaining a discrepancy between the names on all your forms of proof

In general, you will apply to the local branch of your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles or equivalent. You will be be required to apply in-person, and it’s possible that only some (or even one) DMV location in your community will process these applications.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY ID IS A REAL ID?

Look in the upper right-hand corner of your ID. Do you see a star that looks like any displayed below?

No star? It’s not REAL ID-complaint. Chance are that if you haven’t gotten a new state-issued ID card in the last couple of years, you probably don’t have a Real ID.

Tangential story: When I started college, it was right after the drinking age in New York State had gone from 19 to 21. A friend from a state that did not put birthdates on driver’s licenses and confidently ordered a beer to go with his dinner. The server squinted, puzzled that there was no birthdate.

“Oh, we don’t have birthdates on our driver’s licenses in [his home state].” The server was puzzled. “Then how do I know if you’re legal?” My friend smiled warmly and pointed to the top right corner of his ID. “See that green sticker that says 21? That’s how you know I’m at least 21. It’s a Green 21!” Mollified, the server handed him back his ID and wandered off to get his burger and beer.

Yes, readers, he randomly found a tiny, round, green sticker with 21 imprinted on it, and had the notion to put it on his license. The world was a lot less complicated in the mid-1980s.

DO I REALLY HAVE TO GET A REAL ID RIGHT NOW?

Not necessarily. Maybe you’re thinking, “But I have another five years left on my current driver’s license. Why should I pay a fee to get a new one?” 

No plans to visit a nuclear power plant in the near future? Great! Pretty sure you won’t need to visit any federal buildings. OK. But flying? There are all sorts of unanticipated emergencies where you might unexpectedly need to fly. Wouldn’t you rather be prepared?

As mentioned above, there are alternatives to getting newly-issued REAL IDs in the short term, but most people are unlikely to have the majority of them. They include:

• Driver’s licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent)
• U.S. passport
• U.S. passport card
• DHS trusted traveler cards like Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST (but see the next section)
• U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
• Permanent resident card
• Border crossing card
• State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License (Currently only Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington issue these types of licenses.)
• Federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID
• HSPD-12 PIV card (Personal Identification Verification Credentials are granted to federal government employees and contractors.)
• Foreign government-issued passport
• 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

If you opt to put off getting a REAL ID, make sure that you always keep your passport and/or any of these other identification cards accessible. If you keep your passport in your bank’s safe deposit box and unexpectedly find out on a Saturday afternoon that you need to fly on Sunday, you’ll be out of luck.

WHAT’S THE HUBBUB ABOUT GLOBAL ENTRY CARDS?

You can use your Global Entry card, if you already have one, and the benefits of Global Entry are great. You get to keep your shoes, belt, and light jackets on when going through security, you don’t have to empty your pockets, and you can keep your little bag of liquids inside your carry-on.

There’s one small hitch. The current administration has just ruled that residents of New York State will not be allowed to renew or apply for new Global Entry cards, and it’s uncertain at this time if other states’ residents will be banned. (This is a complex political issue outside the parameters of an organizing blog. Please visit your preferred search engine for more details.)

GET REAL

Bottom line: if there’s any chance that you will be flying in 4th Quarter 2020 2nd Quarter 2023 (as of spring 2022) and you don’t have a passport, now is the time to gather your documents and apply for your REAL ID. The lines will only get longer as October approaches.

Finally, if you read the list of alternative IDs and were surprise that there is still a U.S.Merchant Marine, be assured you are not the only one. But like narwhals, they’re real. But Green 21s? Not so much.