REAL ID checks began in May 2025: the phased enforcement rule, the 2027 deadline and TSA's $45 fee

On January 14, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule in the Federal Register that changed how the long-delayed REAL ID requirements would take hold across the United States. Card-based enforcement still began on May 7, 2025, but federal agencies may phase it in, as long as they reach full enforcement no later than May 5, 2027. Later in 2025, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) created a paid identity check for air travelers who reach the checkpoint without an acceptable ID, and in a notice effective December 3, 2025, set its fee at $45.

What REAL ID covers

The REAL ID Act of 2005 sets minimum security standards for driver's licenses and identification cards issued by the states, territories and the District of Columbia. Federal agencies may accept those cards for official purposes only if they meet the standards. Under the law, official purposes include entering federal facilities, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft and entering nuclear power plants, plus any others the Homeland Security secretary decides on.

States may still issue licenses that do not meet the standards, but federal agencies may not accept them for those purposes once enforcement applies. Enhanced driver's licenses, which the rule said only Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington issued, are acceptable. The rule also notes that people without a REAL ID may have other acceptable documents, such as a U.S. passport, passport card or military ID.

Why DHS chose a phased start

The deadline had moved several times. In March 2023, DHS pushed card-based enforcement from May 3, 2023, to May 7, 2025, and the rule refers to extensions made as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2025 rule, DHS said that as of January 2024 only about 56% of licenses and ID cards in circulation nationally were REAL ID-compliant, that the share was below 60% in 34 states, and below 40% in 22 of those. After so many extensions, DHS wrote, the public might expect another and feel no urgency to get a compliant card.

Rather than extend again, DHS kept the date and let agencies phase in enforcement where an immediate switch could disrupt operations or public services. It gave examples such as warning notices or progressive consequences, including a written or verbal warning the first time someone presents a noncompliant card at a location. DHS estimated the rule's cost at $1.73 million over two years, mostly for federal agencies preparing plans. It projected that by May 2027 about 73.1% to 78.8% of licenses and ID cards would be REAL ID-compliant, depending on how fast adoption grew.

What the rule requires

The rule amended the REAL ID regulations, at 6 CFR 37.5. An agency that phases in enforcement must decide that doing so is appropriate in light of security, operational feasibility and public impact; coordinate its plan with DHS; post the plan on its own website; and achieve full enforcement no later than May 5, 2027. DHS must list on its REAL ID web page the agencies that have coordinated plans with it. An agency without a phased plan may not accept a noncompliant card after May 7, 2025, DHS said.

TSA Confirm.ID

On November 20, 2025, TSA announced a modernized identity check for people who arrive at an airport checkpoint without an acceptable form of identification, such as a REAL ID or passport. TSA said it was replacing a call center that verified identity by asking questions with an automated service using biographic or biometric information. TSA said the law requires it to charge users the program's costs, and set an $18 fee. On December 3, 2025, it renamed the program TSA Confirm.ID and, after revising its estimates of users and costs, set the fee at $45, which it said was slightly below the cost it had calculated.

The fee is per person for a 10-day period of use, is optional and is not refunded, including when TSA cannot verify a person's identity. TSA says paying does not guarantee access to the secure area of the airport, that users may face extra screening or delays, and that it may limit repeated use by people who keep arriving without an acceptable ID. People without one who decline the check or do not cooperate will not be allowed through. According to the notice, collection begins when TSA announces registration on TSA.gov.

What applies now

A search of the Federal Register on November 12, 2026, found one later change to the REAL ID regulations since the January 2025 rule, a May 2025 technical amendment to terminology, and no TSA notice changing the Confirm.ID fee since December 3, 2025. On that record, the May 5, 2027, deadline for full enforcement stands as written, and TSA's notices say any change to the fee would be published in the Federal Register. The search does not show whether TSA has opened registration and begun collecting the fee, which the notices say TSA would announce on TSA.gov.

TSA's notices point to its list of acceptable IDs on TSA.gov, and the DHS rule advises anyone who needs to visit a federal facility to check that agency's identification rules in advance. REAL ID-compliant cards are issued by each state's licensing agency.