The Department of Homeland Security announced Dec. 20, 2013, a phased enforcement plan for the REAL ID Act, as passed by Congress, which will implement the Act in a measured, fair and responsible way.
For states and territories, whose extensions expired Oct. 10, 2016, and were not renewed, federal agencies may continue to accept driver’s licenses and identification cards issued by these states and territories for official purposes until Jan. 30, 2017, in order to allow time for states and territories to take corrective action or for its residents to prepare for the change.
This new change aligns the Air Force’s installation access policy with requirements of the REAL ID Act, which focuses on improving the reliability of state-issued identification documents, and helps prevent a person’s ability to evade detection by using a fraudulent form of ID.
While IDs that do not meet security and data-collection guidelines will not be accepted, alternate forms of identification will be allowed. Some of the more common alternatives include a valid U.S. or foreign government-issued passport, an employment authorization document that contains a photograph, or identification cards issued by federal state or local government agencies that include a photo and biographic information.
Installation commanders may still deny access and issuance of access credentials if their background check determines the individual represents a threat or negatively impacts the safety or security of an installation’s personnel or resources.
The following states or territories are compliant with the REAL ID Act: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The following states or territories have an extension through Oct. 10, 2017, allowing federal agencies to accept driver’s licenses and identification cards from these states or territories: Am.Samoa, Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, N. Marianas, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas and Virgin Islands.
The following states or territories have a limited extension through June 6, 2017, allowing federal agencies to accept driver’s licenses and identification cards from these states or territories: Alaska, California, Oregon and Virginia.
The following states or territories are currently under review. REAL ID enforcement will begin on Jan. 30, 2017, if an extension is not granted or compliance is not obtained: Guam and Montana.
The following states remain noncompliant and have not been granted a renewed extension and will be subject to REAL ID enforcement following a short grace period. Starting Jan. 30, 2017, federal agencies and nuclear power plants may not accept for official purposes driver’s licenses and state IDs from a noncompliant state/territory without an extension: Kentucky, Maine, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
The following states did not receive an extension for 2016 or 2017. Therefore, they continue to be subject to current enforcement activities. Federal agencies may not accept driver’s licenses and identification cards from these states: Minnesota,* Missouri and Washington.*
*Federal officials may continue to accept enhanced driver’s licenses from these states.
For more information, visit: https://www.dhs.gov/current-status-states-territories.
