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 authorities offices across the country to secure their compliant IDs In Chicago bureaucrats established a Real ID Supercenter for walk-in appointments while executives in California and elsewhere planned to continue offering extended hours for the crush of appointments I m here nowadays so I won t be right on the deadline which is the next morning explained 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 Certain 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 declared It s a big waste of time as far as I m concerned The Transportation Measure 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 a multitude of Reddit threads and Facebook group discussions in fresh weeks with numerous people expressing confusion about whether they can expedition without a REAL ID sharing details about wait times and seeking advice on how to meet the requirements Noem communicated a congressional panel that of travelers already have REAL IDs She commented protection 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 rise 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 noted But people will be allowed to fly she declared We will make sure it s as seamless as achievable REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that Homeland Measure 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 revealed Thomas Carter TSA s Federal Prevention Director in New Jersey Carter declared those without a REAL ID should give themselves extra time to clear guard 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 commented 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 notable increase in demand for REAL ID and several have extended their office hours to meet the demand A few executives 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 limited months We are encouraging people who have passports or other REAL ID-compliant documents and people who don t have voyage plans in the next limited months to wait until after the current rush to apply for a REAL ID mentioned Erin Johnson a spokesperson with the Minnesota Department of Residents Safety Johnson stated that the department has seen a key increase in demand for REAL ID in new weeks In February there were more than applications for a REAL ID that has nearly doubled to over in April she noted 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