Not quite as exciting as Santa’s arrival, but the date when the Real ID becomes a real big deal is real soon. Here are some facts, most of them fun:
On May 7, a federally accepted ID will be required to board a domestic commercial flight and enter some fed buildings.
Once you have a Real ID, you have it for life – no more document-pulling required to prove you are worthy of one.
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Unless you move – then you must show some evidence of that.
Or if you change states – then, you will indeed have to go through the whole process again. She said each state must obtain its own copies of the documents and perform its own Social Security and Department of Homeland Security checks.
Those under age 18 won’t need any ID to travel in the US – but they will have to be with someone who does have a federally accepted ID.
Real IDs do not help with passage outside of the U.S. Passports are usually needed for international travel.
You can start the process of getting a Real ID online, at REALID.dmv.ca.gov, but you must then go into a DMV office.
Besides a Real ID, these are among the IDs that will work to hop a plane: a U.S. passport or passport card; a U.S. Department of Defense ID, including those provided to dependents; a permanent resident card; a border crossing card; an acceptable ID with a photo from a federally recognized tribal nation or Indian tribe; and a foreign government passport. For a complete list: dhs.gov/real-id.
Passengers without a federally accepted ID will be turned away at the security checkpoint, the feds say.
The documents required to get a Real ID in California: proof of identity, via a passport or a birth certificate, for example; two docs proving you are a Golden State resident – think bank statement and utility bill – and in most cases proof of your Social Security number.
As of Jan. 1, there were 18,502,217 Californians who had been issued a Real ID driver’s license or state-issued ID.
That is 1.6 million more than a year before.
Licenses and IDs with Real ID have a bear and a star icon.
Transferring a Real ID from a driver’s license to a state-issued ID card no longer requires ID and residency docs being resubmitted to the DMV.
No one can have a Real ID on a license and also on a DMV-issued ID at the same time.
Religious head coverings are allowed on Real ID photos, so long as the face is visible.
The Real ID came out of Congress in 2005 in the wake of 9/11.
Federally accepted ID was meant to reduce the odds of dangerous riffraff getting onto planes, into secured federal buildings and onto the grounds of nuclear plants.
The date when federally accepted ID would be required for flights, the buildings and the plants has been postponed at least twice. But May 7 certainly looks like a go.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. To see him on the social media platform X: @OCRegisterHonk
