What’s Going On With REAL ID? Things To Know In GA

GEORGIA — The deadline to get a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license has changed so many times it’s almost a punchline for a joke. Now, the date Georgia residents need to remember is May 7, 2025.

After that date, if things stand as they are now, Georgia residents will no longer be able to board domestic flights or enter nuclear power plants and certain federal buildings if they don’t have a REAL ID. A valid passport works as well as a REAL ID when boarding domestic flights. Additionally, these federal documents are accepted.

Congress passed the REAL ID Act, a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, in 2005. It “establishes minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards, and prohibits federal agencies from accepting for official purposes licenses and identification cards from states that do not meet these standards.”

Here are some things to know about REAL ID and the new deadline:

How Do I Know If I Have A REAL ID?

A REAL ID is distinguishable from a regular Georgia driver’s license because it has a black or gold star. That’s a shorthand way of saying a person’s citizenship and legal residence status have been verified.

How Do I Get A REAL ID?

REAL ID cards are issued at driver’s licensing stations in Georgia. In general, those seeking them need to provide documentation showing their legal name, date of birth, Social Security number or proof of lawful status to be in the United States, and two proofs of the address of their principal residence.

Acceptable REAL ID documents are as follows, according to driver services:

• Proof of identity
• Proof of name change (any and all name changes)
• Proof of social security number
• Proof of Georgia residency
• Proof of identity and lawful status (for non-U.S. citizens)

While Georgia requires residents seeking a REAL ID to visit their local customer service centers, applicants can pre-apply online with the DDS.
Why Is The Deadline So Fluid?

The Department of Homeland Security has extended the deadline for REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses multiple times, most recently in late 2022 when the agency moved the implementation date back two years to May 7, 2025.

Homeland Security officials said COVID-19 pandemic-related backlogs have slowed states’ progress in issuing REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses.

Those backlogs are greater in some states where driver’s license expiration dates were automatically extended, or by shifting operations to appointment only.

Should I Just Wait Until 2025?

With the extended deadline now about a year and a half in the future, the temptation to put off getting a REAL ID may be great. But that could mean longer lines and more competition for appointments in places that require them.

Homeland Security officials estimated that by May 2023, the REAL ID compliance deadline before the latest extension, only about 56 percent of the U.S. population over age 18 would have obtained one.

The Georgia Department of Driver Services has in the past encouraged people who do not yet have a REAL ID issued document to plan accordingly.

According to DDS, all permanent licenses that were issued after 2012 are REAL ID compliant.