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The Department of Homeland Security said it will be making a decision this week.
Before you start worrying, there are a boatload of caveats: The government's decision will apply only to people in a handful of states. It wouldn't take effect until at earliest the end of April. And DHS could still decide to postpone its decision, according to a DHS spokeswoman.
Ten years ago, the U.S. government passed the Real ID Act, issuing stricter standards for state-issued IDs, including drivers licenses. The idea was to toughen standards on what documents were needed to get a driver's license, an effort to crack down on the potential for terrorists and criminals to obtain state-issued IDs. The act makes it harder to obtain a drivers license with counterfeit records.
Fewer than half (22) of the states have complied with the law.
Though the law states that noncompliant IDs cannot be used to board domestic flights, DHS and the TSA have not been enforcing that standard. But DHS has said it would make an announcement about enforcing the law on air travelers — and what that means for fliers — before the end of 2015. And here we are, in the last week of 2015.
The good news is that the majority of fliers in noncompliant states aren't at risk anytime soon: 19 states have been granted waiver extensions through October 10, 2016, and four states are currently under review for an extension.
That leaves just five states that have been deemed noncompliant, have not been granted an extension and do not have extensions under review.
Noncompliant states:
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- New Mexico
- Washington
These states applied for waiver extensions, and DHS is still reviewing their requests. All of these states were previously granted waivers that are set to expire on January 10, 2016.
States seeking waiver extensions:
- Alaska
- California
- New Jersey
- South Carolina
States with expiring extensions:
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Idaho
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Texas
- Virginia
Compliant states:
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- Ohio
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
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