For real this time, Real ID requirement will take effect this spring

After years of extensions, Real ID will be the law of the land come this spring. Anybody boarding domestic flights or entering certain federal facilities will need one of the driver’s licenses or identification cards with a star in the upper right corner.

Other federally approved forms of identification, such as a passport, also will be accepted.

Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 to improve standards for identification in response to security vulnerabilities exposed by the 9/11 attacks. Enactment has been pushed back four times, but Neng Lor, who manages the service center in the basement of the Hennepin County Government Center, said he would not bet on a fifth delay. So plan on May 7 as the deadline.

“I would not take a chance,” Lor said last week.

Martha Ertl of Minneapolis had put off getting a Real ID, but with the deadline looming, she made the trip downtown Wednesday. Her birthday was coming, too, “so now was the time to do it,” she said. “It will make it easier to fly.”

The push is on for others to follow Ertl’s move as adoption rates have been lagging ahead.

As of Feb. 3, just 39.7% of Minnesotans have a Real ID, the Department of Public Safety said.

“We are a little bit behind,” said Jody-Kay Peterson, a program director with the state’s Driver and Vehicle Services department.

In the run-up to the May deadline, the department is working to get the word out through a social media campaign. In November, it launched a webpage devoted to Real ID, with answers to questions and instructions on how to start the application process.

Representatives have also visited community events spreading the message that “May 7 is approaching and approaching fast,” Peterson said.

Desiree Arnold-Morman, a Hennepin County Service Center employee, has seen an uptick in applications in recent months. In January, 46% of all transactions at the Government Center location involved Real ID, up from 31% in January 2024, when the center processed about 2,200 applications, the county said.

“People would say they keep extending it [the deadline], so we will be OK,” Arnold-Morman said. “Now they are saying, ‘I need this now.’”

To get a Real ID in Minnesota, applicants must show one document proving their full legal name, date of birth and proof of U.S. citizenship. Passports, birth certificates or a permanent resident card will suffice.

Applicants must also present two documents with their name and showing proof of address, such as a driver’s license, tax return, credit card or bank statement, or utility bill. They also must provide their Social Security number.

Applications and documents can be uploaded to the Driver and Vehicle Services website to ensure they meet requirements. Once approved by agency staff, applicants must bring a physical copy of those documents to a department office to complete and sign their application. Electronic copies on phones are not permissible.

“We need to scan them into our system,” Peterson said.

Peterson says turnaround time at present is about 30 days, but “don’t wait for the rush,” she said.

A Class D Real ID-compliant license costs $46, or $41 for those renewing, the same fees for those seeking or renewing a standard license. For an additional $15, applicants can get an Enhanced license or ID card, which can be used go to and from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean by land or sea. It is not a replacement for a passport for air travel.

Standard licenses will remain valid and can be used for driving and conducting daily transactions such as banking.