Most travelers must have a REAL ID now to fly in US, or face extra screening

By OLGA R RODRIGUEZ Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO AP REAL ID requirements for those flying within the United States begin Wednesday after nearly years of delays The day ahead of the deadline people lined up at administration offices across the country to secure their compliant IDs In Chicago agents established a Real ID Supercenter for walk-in appointments while administrators in California and elsewhere planned to continue offering extended hours for the crush of appointments I m here at present so I won t be right on the deadline which is the subsequent day commented Marion Henderson who applied for her REAL ID on Tuesday in Jackson Mississippi An employee right checks on necessary documents as people line up to apply for Real ID at a Real ID Supercenter in downtown Chicago Tuesday May AP Photo Kiichiro Sato Homeland Precaution Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday assured people who don t yet have a REAL ID but need to take a domestic flight Wednesday that they will be able to fly after clearing additional identity checks Chosen complained about the need to secure the ID after waiting in line for hours Michael Aceto waited in line at a DMV in King of Prussia in the Philadelphia suburbs for about two and a half hours Tuesday before getting his REAL ID It s a pain in the butt It s really a lot of time Everybody s got to take off from work to be here he explained It s a big waste of time as far as I m concerned The Transportation Protection Administration warned people who don t have identification that complies with REAL ID requirements to arrive early at the airport and be prepared for advanced screening to avoid causing delays The new requirements have been the subject of numerous Reddit threads and Facebook group discussions in latest weeks with numerous people expressing confusion about whether they can passage without a REAL ID sharing details about wait times and seeking advice on how to meet the requirements Noem notified a congressional panel that of travelers already have REAL IDs She announced precaution checkpoints will also be accepting passports and tribal identification like they have already been doing Related Articles Wall Street points higher ahead of Federal Reserve interest rate call Disney parks thrive in second quarter and it adds million new streaming subscribers Federal Reserve faces tough balancing act between fighting inflation and spurring economic expansion WeightWatchers files for bankruptcy protection to eliminate debt burden Mattel considers price hikes in response to tariffs after Trump says kids don t need a lot of dolls Those who still lack an identification that complies with the REAL ID law may be diverted to a different line have an extra step Noem reported But people will be allowed to fly she noted We will make sure it s as seamless as practicable REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that Homeland Safety says is a more secure form of identification It was a recommendation by the Commission and signed into law in It was supposed to be rolled out in but the implementation had been repeatedly delayed The whole idea here is to better validate those individuals that were encountering a checkpoint to ensure they are who exactly they say they are noted Thomas Carter TSA s Federal Protection Director in New Jersey Carter commented those without a REAL ID should give themselves extra time to clear precaution If they do that I do not have a belief that this will cause people to miss their flights if they take that additional time in he mentioned Besides serving as a valid form of identification to fly domestically people will also need a REAL ID to access certain federal buildings and facilities State regime offices that issue driver s licenses and state IDs have seen a vital increase in demand for REAL ID and specific have extended their office hours to meet the demand A few administrators have recommended people wait for a while to get REAL ID compliant licenses and cards if they don t have flight planned in the next sparse months We are encouraging people who have passports or other REAL ID-compliant documents and people who don t have progress plans in the next meager months to wait until after the current rush to apply for a REAL ID reported Erin Johnson a spokesperson with the Minnesota Department of Citizens Safety Johnson explained that the department has seen a essential increase in demand for REAL ID in fresh weeks In February there were more than applications for a REAL ID that has nearly doubled to over in April she stated Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana in Washington D C Janie Har in San Francisco and Joseph Frederick in Newark New Jersey and Tassanee Vejpongsa in King of Prussia Pennsylvania contributed to this story