WASHINGTON (TNND) — Domestic flight travelers will be required to comply with REAL ID before their next flight or risk paying a $45 fee from the Transportation Security Administration fee starting Feb. 1.
Last year, TSA began enforcing the REAL ID requirement, placing more pressure onto compliance by proposing a fee against travelers without the ID.
TSA is now beginning ConfirmID, which is a process that works to streamline the identification check and fee payment for those without a REAL ID. Travelers without a REAL ID can input their information online and pay the fee before setting out on their travels.
The REAL ID Act was first passed by Congress in 2005 after the 9/11 Commission recommended that the federal government strengthen their security standards and identification.
CNN sat down with Steve Lorincz, deputy executive assistant administrator of TSA and here are some of his answers to questions alongside some additional details about the new policy.
“February 1 is really the next phase of REAL ID compliance enforcement. We rolled out REAL ID in May of 2025. About 94% of the population, or the passengers that transit through a TSA checkpoint today, have a REAL ID compliant driver’s license or an acceptable form of ID, like a passport. So that leaves us about 6%,” Lorincz said.
Those is the 6% has a couple of options: travelers can go to the Department of Motor Vehicles, or wherever their state issues IDs, and obtain a REAL ID. But for those travelers who haven’t done that by February 1, they will enter their name and travel start date and pay a $45 fee on TSA ConfirmID, an online system.
“Once they pay that $45 fee, they will get a receipt. They will bring that receipt to a TSA checkpoint,” Lorincz said, where a TSA agent will use that receipt, plus a government ID, to process the traveler through the security checkpoint.
At the checkpoint, travelers should be prepared to provide their legal name, address and date of birth to complete the ConfirmID verification process.
“When you look at your driver’s license, there’s usually an indicator at the top of the driver’s license, which is a star,” said Lorincz. “Some states, like California, have the golden bear. So look at that, make sure that you might have a compliant REAL ID driver’s license. If you’re not sure, there’s also a lot of information on the sites for both the DMVs and Secretary of State offices as far as that.”
“A mobile ID, passports, military IDs, but there’s a very detailed list on TSA.gov that provides all the acceptable forms of ID,” Lorincz said.
Other alternatives shared on the TSA website include DHS trusted traveler cards, permanent resident card, border crossing card, a foreign government-issued passport and others.
ID is not required for children under 18 for domestic flights.
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