It’s definitely not a Canada thing - I can enter the US from Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, and the Caribbean by land or sea with my NYS enhanced license.
I think enhanced licenses all have a flag.
Yes, mine has a little American Flag over a portion of my photo. (there are actually two photos of me, one larger and one smaller)
The TSA agent is gonna stick your ID in their computer reader and a couple seconds later their screen is going to give a red or green light. Not much discretion there.
Now could the computer be programmed to be that kind of discriminatory? Under the current administration criminal regime that seems possible. But still not highly likely.
I don’t have one & don’t plan on getting one. It’s $30 extra & I did look, my state has eased up on the requirements; previously, you needed an original SS card, now they will accept more docs with a SSN on it like a pay stub or W-2.
I have a passport & more importantly, a passport card which is currently in my wallet therefore, I don’t see any need to waste money & make a trip to the DMV to stand in line.
Your state charges extra for a Real ID license? That’s wrong, though if you have a passport card in your wallet, you don’t need it.
Not only do they charge $30 extra for it, but you need to get a license renewal at the same time. Though they will at least tack on the current remaining time to your expiration. IOW, if I have three years left on my current (four year) license & get a real ID that new one will expire in seven years so I need to pay $69.95 now ($30 Real ID + $39.95 regular license renewal fee).
They’re forcing people to pay for a license upgrade two years early on average. $39.95 x a couple of million people = a nice PV bonus for them.
Christ. . .I got one back in 2023. Had to bring in a ton of documents, seven signed sealed letters from people who swore that I was who I said I was, and three letters that I would never lie. (thats a lie by they way), Three or four birth certificiates, proof of blood type and that I spend 3 years in the cub scouts in the 60’s. . Not to mention the Anal probe just to be sure.
But damn it. . It expires at the end of May. I’m freaking. . Do I have to prove all over again, that I am really who I say I am? Geez, I have every photo ID Drivers license the state gave me since 1975! Birth certificates, professional license, Concealed weapons permit. . What more do they want from me? Letters from the FBI and CIA that I am still who I say I am? Something from the Warren Commission that says I wasn’t in Cuba and did not shoot Kennedy back in '63? (Geez, I was all of 4 years old and that Mannlicher Carcano was taller than I was!
Seriously though, I called the “Service Oklahoma” branch (actually the tag agent where I got the license in 2023) and they said, “Just come on down. . no appointment needed.”
If you need a real ID. . don’t sweat it. . it is not nearly as bad as you have heard. Just find an out of the way tag agent, and you’ll be in and out in less than an hour.
Nope. Once you have a RealID, the renewal is the same as an ordinary license. Or at least that’s what the Feds want it to be. No telling what any given benighted state has chosen to do.
The problem is that one fifth of the population don’t have ID which meets Real-ID standards, either driver’s license with the Real ID, or passport etc. And it’s also true that a great many people are going to forget to bring a passport along for travel in the U.S. for at least several months past the May 7 deadline. It’s politically unacceptable to reject all these people–and the article I cited above says they won’t. I don’t see how this TSA software is going to give the green light to the inadequate id people–sure there may be someone in the country with that name, etc–but is that person the one who is standing in front of you?
So I think TSA agents will be doing judgement calls.
With a soft start like that I agree there’s going to have to be judgment calls. I’m rather surprised they’re planning a soft start.
Although those “judgment calls” won’t simply be “trust your intuition, there Mr/Ms TSA agent.” There’ll be some policy guidance on how much of what is close enough good enough to wave through. And of course individual TSOs will be either lenient or harsh within whatever discretion remains in their management-provided flowchart.
My understanding is that for people without acceptable ID, the TSA will ask questions and confirm the answers by using some sort of “publicly available” database. I don’t think by 'publicly available" they mean whatever a Google search brings up, I think they just mean it’s not a government database. For example, I’ve more than once needed to confirm my identity (not with the TSA) by answering questions such as which bank did I get a mortgage from in 2007 or how much was the payment on the loan for my 2002 Civic. Which are answers that no one other than myself or my husband is likely to know.
Air travel only. Not driving, walking, or biking.
Is there anything i can do with a realID that i can’t do with a passport? Because the process here is a little bit of a hassle.
Huh. I got mine the same time (actually maybe 2021–yeah looks like June 2021) and, while there were documents to bring, the worst part was just waiting two hours in a standing line. It wasn’t the horror story people made it out to be at the time. I’m surprised it got worse two years later.
I’ve read on several occasions that, if one has a passport, one can get by without a Real ID. Keep in mind, however, that Sauron could change that with a simple stroke of the pen anytime he wants.
Well, for driving you will need a drivers license. But no, your passport works- which is why the claim real ID is to prevent terrorism is bogus. The 9.11 terrorists had passports.
Indeed. They were properly identified. To quote myself in this same thread a few years ago:
That was a good post, sir!
If he was going to change it, it would be in the other direction, that only a passport would be acceptable for flying. For a number of reasons, from the fact that the Federal govt issues passports to the fact that it’s often more of a hassle to get a passports than a real ID (for someone who has neither) to the fact that he can apparently order the state dept not to consider birth certificates proof of citizenship ( by can I don’t mean legally entitled to, I just mean they will obey)
You can’t drive with a passport and you actually don’t need RealID only for traveling - you also need it to enter Federal facilities. Depending on your daily life, it may be inconvenient to carry your passport routinely.
I got mine upgraded to the REAL ID last spring when I had to renew my non-driver ID. It was super quick and easy. All I had to bring was my current ID and a bank statement showing my address. Waited maybe 5 minutes, that was it. No extra fees. Over and done with.