Will I be able to apply for a REAL ID?

The month of October is fast approaching, and with it the deadline to apply for a Real ID Driver's License with your State Department of Motor Vehicles.

If you have not yet applied for a Real ID driver's license, you still have time to do so with your state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The renewal deadline set by the federal government is October 1 this year, and all eligible citizens are encouraged to complete this essential process to improve national security. Licenses with this security mark are a product of the Real Identity Act, passed by Congress over 15 years ago and still applied to people who frequented military, federal, or nuclear installations.

Some commercial flights also require this type of documentation, but starting in October, all domestic flights will require passengers to have a driver's license with real ID to travel. If they don't have one, they will need to prove their identity by showing some of the following Transportation Security Administration (TSA)-approved documents:

1. Valid US passport.

2. DHS Trusted Traveler Cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST).

3. US Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents.

4. Residence permit.

5. Map of border crossing.

6. Federally recognized tribal photo ID.

7. Tarjeta HSPD-12 PIV.

8. Passport issued by a foreign government.

9. Canadian Provincial Driver's License or Canadian Northern and Indian Affairs Card.

10. Identity card of transport workers.

11. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Work Permit (I-766).

12. US Merchant Marine Certificate.

13. Veteran's Medical Card (VIS).

Another form of identification that will be accepted as a replacement for the Real ID license starting in October is an extended driver's license, available only to residents of Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Vermont. which can be a five-pointed star (gold or black), a white star in the middle of a circle (gold or black), or a golden silhouette of a bear with a white star on its body.

Real ID driver's licenses cannot replace passports when traveling outside the country, they are only a form of internal identification and no US citizen will be able to use them as a form of international identification.

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