In early December, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that beginning on Feb. 1 next year, travelers without a REAL ID will be able to pay a $45 fee to use alternative identity verification system TSA ConfirmID for a 10-day travel period. Despite this new option, TSA urges travelers who do not have a REAL ID to schedule an appointment at an area Department of Motor Vehicles office to update their ID as soon as possible, ideally before traveling by air.
Acceptable forms of ID include:
-
REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by a state Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent)
- If you are not sure if your ID complies with REAL ID, check with your state Department of Motor Vehicles.
- A temporary driver’s license is not an acceptable form of identification for air travel.
- State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License or Enhanced ID
- U.S. passport
- U.S. passport card
- Department of Homeland Security Trusted Traveler Cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
- Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
- Permanent Resident Card
- Border Crossing Card
- An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized tribal nation/Native American tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards
- HSPD-12 Personal Identity Verification card
- Foreign government-issued passport
- Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
- Transportation Worker Identification Credential
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
- U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
- Veteran Health Identification Card
All travelers without an acceptable ID, including those who present a non-REAL ID-compliant state driver’s license or ID, will be referred to the TSA ConfirmID process for identity verification upon TSA check-in and prior to entering the security line. This process will differ from airport to airport, and TSA is working with private industries to proactively offer online payment options prior to arrival at the airport. Currently, more than 94% of passengers already use their REAL ID or other acceptable forms of identification at airport security checkpoints.
“Identity verification is essential to traveler safety, because it keeps terrorists, criminals, and illegal aliens out of the skies and other domestic transportation systems such as rail,” says Adam Stahl, the senior official performing the duties of deputy administrator for TSA, in a prepared statement. “The vast majority of travelers present acceptable identification like REAL IDs and passports, but we must ensure everyone who flies is who they say they are. Beginning Feb. 1, 2026, travelers who do not present an acceptable form of ID at TSA security checkpoints and still want to fly can pay a $45 fee and undergo the TSA ConfirmID process. This fee ensures the cost to cover verification of an insufficient ID will come from the traveler, not the taxpayer. The security of the traveling public is our top priority, so we urge all travelers to get a REAL ID or other acceptable form of ID as soon as possible to avoid delays and potentially missing flights.”
For passengers who arrive at the airport without paying the fee ahead of time (once this option is available), information about how to pay for the TSA ConfirmID option will be available at marked locations at or near the checkpoint in most airports. Travelers who undergo TSA ConfirmID processing at an airport should expect delays.
TSA’s list of acceptable forms of ID can be found at tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification.
For more information on REAL ID, visit tsa.gov/real-id.
