Some USA residents will need new ID to board planes

American citizens living in certain states may now need a passport to travel by airplane domestically. New Hampshire lawmakers plan to reopen the debate on whether the state should comply with federal personal identification laws.

The New York Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has asked Homeland Security for an extension in enforcing the act, which was enacted to provide extra security measures in the wake of the 9/11 attacks of terrorism.

The act, which was passed in 2005, was put into effect by the Department of Homeland Security in 2013. In states where Homeland Security feels the state-issued license does not meet security standards, a second form of ID will be required to get into restricted areas of federal buildings.

Getting straight answers about how and when the rule will be implemented isn’t easy as government regulators and members of the travel industry avoided discussing the looming rules change. “DHS will ensure the public has ample advanced notice before identification requirements for boarding aircraft change”, the site says.

If other states had had miserable experiences with their Real ID-compliant licenses – if the fears of the Real ID law’s critics had proven well-founded, in other words – that would be one thing.

“The goal was to leverage negotiations with the federal government around some of the pretty serious concerns that policy makers at the state level and across the country had”, said State Sen. However, only New York and Minnesota offer the EDL, leaving over 3 million Americans in the dust.

Now you can use military or governmental IDs, a passport, a passport card, an Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL) or Department of Homeland Security trusted traveler cards such as NEXUS or Global Entry.

It costs an adult at least 0 to get a first passport or to renew an old one, though there are ways around the passport option in two states.

Driver’s licenses top the list of acceptable air travel ID, posted online by the Transportation Security Administration.