TSA introduced Monday that starting Feb. 1, 2026, vacationers who show up to the airport with out a REAL ID may have to pay a $45 payment to get previous the security checkpoint.
Travelers pays $45 to use TSA Confirm.ID, the new identification-verification system, earlier than getting on their flight. That payment will cowl them for up to 10 days of travel, as per the official TSA web site. The TSA urges vacationers who would not have a REAL ID to schedule an appointment at their native DMV to replace their ID as quickly as potential.
Earlier this 12 months, the TSA issued a assertion reiterating the significance of the REAL ID.
“The REAL ID requirement bolsters safety by making fraudulent IDs harder to forge, thwarting criminals and terrorists. TSA will implement REAL ID effectively and efficiently, continuing to ensure the safety and security of passengers while also working to minimize operational disruptions at airports,” the assertion learn.
What types of identification are acceptable to avoid the $45 payment?
Travelers who need to avoid paying the $45 payment should current one of the next types of identification, as famous on the TSA’s web site.
Acceptable types of ID embrace:
- REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses or different state picture identification playing cards issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (or equal)
- State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL) or Enhanced ID (EID)
- U.S. passport
- U.S. passport card
- DHS trusted traveler playing cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
- U.S. Department of Defense ID, together with IDs issued to dependents
- Permanent resident card
- Border crossing card
- An acceptable picture ID issued by a federally acknowledged Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, together with Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs)
- HSPD-12 PIV card
- Foreign authorities-issued passport
- Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
- Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment (*16*) Card (I-766)
- U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
- Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)
TSA added that “a temporary driver’s license is not an acceptable form of identification.”
How can vacationers pay the $45 payment for identification verification?
TSA acknowledged that each one vacationers with out an acceptable ID will probably be referred to the non-compulsory TSA Confirm.ID course of for identification verification upon TSA examine-in and prior to getting into the security line.
The company added that this course of will differ airport to airport, and TSA is working with the personal sector to proactively offer online cost choices prior to arrival on the airport.
“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,” stated Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Administrator for TSA Adam Stahl.
“The overwhelming majority of vacationers current acceptable identification like REAL IDs and passports, however we should guarantee everybody who flies is who they are saying they’re. Beginning February 1, vacationers who don’t current an acceptable type of ID at our security checkpoints and nonetheless need to fly pays a $45 payment and bear the TSA Confirm.ID course of. This payment ensures that the fee to cowl verification of an inadequate ID will come from the traveler, not the taxpayer,” Stahl added.
