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The deadlines for Americans to have Real IDs have been pushed back so many times that it is easy to ignore this impending federal requirement. This time, however, it seems like the deadline — May 7, 2025 — is going to stick.
That means Mainers have about a year to get the new IDs, which will replace the current standard Maine drivers license and ID as acceptable identification to board domestic airline flights. Real IDs are already required to enter many federal facilities.
You don’t have to get a Real ID, which includes enhanced security features. However, you would need to show a passport or passport card to clear TSA security in airports for any flights beginning next May, and to enter some federal buildings.
Currently only one in five Mainers have a Real ID, which the state began issuing in 2019. Although that’s double the number of Mainers who had Real ID-compliant IDs two years ago, that’s one of the lowest rates in the country. This could lead to headaches for both Maine residents and staff at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles if lots of people want to get the new licenses by next May.
We, like the Maine Legislature, long opposed Real ID as a poorly thought out federal response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. However, the May 2025 deadline for Real IDs to board planes will soon be here, so getting a Real ID before next May makes sense for a lot of people.
The Real ID Act set national standards to improve the security of state-issued identification because several of the 9/11 hijackers had obtained state-issued driver’s licenses in the months leading up to the attacks. The men, who had valid travel visas, were in the U.S. legally.
Many states, including Maine, balked at what they saw as federal overreach and had concerns about the privacy of the data that would be collected under the federal law, which was passed in 2005. The Maine Legislature in 2007 passed a law prohibiting the state from complying with Real ID amid concerns about the cost of compliance and how personal information would be protected.
Maine and many other states received waivers from meeting Real ID requirements. However, in October 2016, the Department of Homeland Security denied Maine’s request for a renewal of its waiver from Real ID enforcement and the federal government stopped accepting Maine driver’s licenses as valid identification for entering military bases in early 2017.
That year, Maine lawmakers passed a new law, which repealed the state’s prohibition on Real ID and directed the Maine secretary of state to begin issuing licenses that are compliant with the federal law.
All states are now issuing Real ID-compliant identification.
The new licenses do cost more and you’ll need to bring paperwork to prove both your status as a citizen of the U.S. (a birth certificate, for most people) and proof of your residence in Maine. Making an appointme nt ahead of time at a local BMV can speed the process.
Real ID was a belated, and perhaps even inappropriate, response to a long ago terrorist attack. However, the federal requirements for the enhanced IDs are here to stay. So, Mainers should set aside any confusion and frustration, and get one of the new IDs before next May.
