Americans will have two more years to obtain a Real ID.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday that it was delaying full enforcement of the Real ID.
It was supposed to go into effect on May 3, 2023. Full enforcement will now take effect on May 7, 2025.
“This extension will give states needed time to ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card," said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. "DHS will also use this time to implement innovations to make the process more efficient and accessible."
DHS said the extension is due, in part, to "lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic" which it says hindered people's ability to obtain a Real ID. It adds that many agencies are dealing with backlogs, which would have made obtaining a Real ID by the May 3 deadline difficult.
Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 following a recommendation by the 9/11 commission. It established minimum security standards to obtain a driver's license and identification cards.
Real ID-compliant identification will be needed to get past TSA checkpoints for domestic air travel beginning May 7, 2025.
The latest extension is just the latest in a series of delays. Real ID requirements were supposed to go into effect in 2020 and then again in 2021, but both deadlines were pushed back.