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TSA REAL ID program is making passports more of a necessity


JLMoran

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For those not yet aware, the TSA has a program called "REAL ID" that is going into effect on Jan 22, 2018. You can find information about it here. The upshot is that if you live in a state where the drivers licenses are not certified by TSA as REAL ID compliant, and your state hasn't been granted an extension, the only way you'll be allowed to board a domestic flight is with a passport. I got an alert email about this at work today.

NJ happens to have been granted an extension, but NY has not (yet) and also isn't yet certified. TSA is working with them to get an extension in place or (if possible) get them certified, but nothing is locked down yet. You may want to check if your own state has been certified or granted an extension, and if not see about getting your passport ASAP.

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Interesting info...I followed the link @JLMoran posted and found this map showing the status of each state and territory.It looks like 18 or 19 states have been granted an extension with several under review. It looks like if your state is green, you wont have any issues. It's still ideal to have a passport regardless IMO.

 

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1 hour ago, spiegeje -- DunkelBier_Jay said:

Interesting info...I followed the link @JLMoran posted and found this map showing the status of each state and territory.It looks like 18 or 19 states have been granted an extension with several under review. It looks like if your state is green, you wont have any issues. It's still ideal to have a passport regardless IMO.

The map is out of date; Michigan has REAL ID compliant Drivers Licenses and Enhanced Drivers Licenses, assuming that's what you applied for at renewal time.  http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,4670,7-127-1627_81569---,00.html

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3 hours ago, spiegeje -- DunkelBier_Jay said:

Interesting info...I followed the link @JLMoran posted and found this map showing the status of each state and territory.It looks like 18 or 19 states have been granted an extension with several under review. It looks like if your state is green, you wont have any issues. It's still ideal to have a passport regardless IMO.

 

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Thanks for sharing this! Glad to see Ohio in the green. I could see myself having to fly out somewhere for work and toootally forgetting about my passport in the process.

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Personally I feel this is nothing more than another act of the TSA's "Security Theater".  Think about it:

 

This law wasn't created until 2005...4 years after 9/11.  If it was that important, why did it take that long to pass?

 

Once passed, they have spent the last 12 years granting extension after extension.  Again, if you can make 12 years of delays, how important can it really be?

 

 

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On 11/30/2017 at 6:37 PM, KLAconQueso said:

Thanks for sharing this! Glad to see Ohio in the green. I could see myself having to fly out somewhere for work and toootally forgetting about my passport in the process.

The problem I see here is that you forget your passport and fly out using driving licence as OH is complaint but you would need to hope that the state you were flying to was also if not you may have a long drive home if you can't board the return flight. 

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6 hours ago, HighlandBoy said:

The problem I see here is that you forget your passport and fly out using driving licence as OH is complaint but you would need to hope that the state you were flying to was also if not you may have a long drive home if you can't board the return flight. 

No, that shouldn't be an issue since the key matter is wether the ID you show is issued by a state with ID practices / standards that have been rated compliant, not whether the state you are flying out of is itself rated compliant yet. So having an Ohio driver's license, where Ohio's ID standards have been certified compliant, means @KLAconQueso can safely fly from any US airport using just that ID as proof of citizenship; she could fly out of New Jersey (my home state, still on extension / not yet certified) and have no issues. The airport will run her ID through the system; it will check with whatever centralized database or other information bank, see it's compliant and not coming back as a forgery or stolen, and give the green light; and the security staff will let her be on her merry way.

Of course, we do need to get NJ, MA, LA, and WA certified along with FL and MD; that way, all of the Royal Caribbean home ports are covered! :4_joy:

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I can't imagine why NJ needs an extension - we need to show tons of identification to get our licenses.  The six-point system requires so much that we can't NOT be compliant.  I feel like it was easier to get a passport than come up with the 6 points for the license!  Even harder when you are married and some things are only in one spouse's name.  

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1 hour ago, KathyC said:

I can't imagine why NJ needs an extension - we need to show tons of identification to get our licenses.  The six-point system requires so much that we can't NOT be compliant.  I feel like it was easier to get a passport than come up with the 6 points for the license!  Even harder when you are married and some things are only in one spouse's name.  

I hear you! I think the issue is that our drivers' licenses may still be somewhat easily counterfeited / faked. Since the TSA isn't making public what constitutes a "REAL ID"-compliant license, we can only guess. But I'd imagine it might involve certifying that things like the watermarking and other state-specific marks are sufficiently difficult to copy; the colorful background we have, plus the tiny state seal in the upper corner of the photograph and the holographic "great seal of the state of New Jersey" image that's plastered in a half-dozen spots on the laminate overlay, maybe aren't sufficient to satisfy this. Or maybe we need to add a chip like current credit cards use, or we need to demonstrate the photographs printed on the license are sufficiently high-resolution or printed with inks a counterfeiter can't easily get (kind of like with our currency).

I don't know if the fact that NJ / NY / CA / IL are massive international air transportation hubs adds any extra wrinkles, or if their higher population density compared to the other states has an impact; it could be that things the TSA is saying are mandatory aren't as easily managed in states with many hundreds of millions more licenses to print and track. FL and GA are also quite heavy international hubs, and their populations are also pretty dense, so maybe not; but it's the only other reason I can think of why NY and NJ are taking so darned long to get this certification.

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18 hours ago, PRC said:

Personally I feel this is nothing more than another act of the TSA's "Security Theater".  Think about it:

This law wasn't created until 2005...4 years after 9/11.  If it was that important, why did it take that long to pass?

Once passed, they have spent the last 12 years granting extension after extension.  Again, if you can make 12 years of delays, how important can it really be?

Well, it did make the TSA bureaucrats jobs safer... 

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On 12/5/2017 at 9:37 AM, KathyC said:

I can't imagine why NJ needs an extension - we need to show tons of identification to get our licenses.  The six-point system requires so much that we can't NOT be compliant.  I feel like it was easier to get a passport than come up with the 6 points for the license!  Even harder when you are married and some things are only in one spouse's name.  

6?!  That's a pain!  I think we only need 3 in Florida, and I thought that was bad.  6 is nuts.

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15 hours ago, RestingBirds said:

6?!  That's a pain!  I think we only need 3 in Florida, and I thought that was bad.  6 is nuts.

It's  6 "points" not 6 documents. Some points are worth more than others, like a passport is worth 4.  You have to pick at least one document from the "primary" category, which range between 2-4 points, based on the document.  Then you fill the rest of the 6 with documents from the "secondary" category.  These range from 1-3 points each.  Some require more than 1 thing for the point(s).  Like if you use a school photo ID (high school or college) you must also have a transcript from the school to complete the item.   It's annoying. 

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52 minutes ago, KathyC said:

It's  6 "points" not 6 documents. Some points are worth more than others, like a passport is worth 4.  You have to pick at least one document from the "primary" category, which range between 2-4 points, based on the document.  Then you fill the rest of the 6 with documents from the "secondary" category.  These range from 1-3 points each.  Some require more than 1 thing for the point(s).  Like if you use a school photo ID (high school or college) you must also have a transcript from the school to complete the item.   It's annoying. 

Aha!  Thanks for the explanation.  It does sound very annoying.

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I've never understood the reluctance that so many people have when it comes to getting a passport. What happens if all of a sudden when you pull up to a foreign port and they have changed their policies requiring a passport to enter? Unlikely to happen, but it could.

 

Or if something bad happens and you need to fly back to return home early for one reason or another...

 

I don't get why people don't spend the few bucks and get one.

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6 hours ago, constable145 said:

I don't get why people don't spend the few bucks and get one.

For some who are on a really tight budget, and already keeping themselves to the cheapest cabin possible, the idea of spending another $80-100+ on a passport (card or book) could look exorbitant. Assuming they booked an inside cabin to really keep it cheap, that could be 20-25% of the per-person rate. If they already used up whatever vacation money they saved up to pay for the cruise, they may well just not have the funds. And if that cruise is the only one they'll take in the next 5+ years, the idea of spending the money on the passport may seem even more ludicrous.

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I think where @constable145 is coming from too is part of our Canadian mindset.  I've had a passport for as long as I can remember.  We are just use to travelling with one because we do pretty much need it wherever we are going and it is just more convenient to have it than risk being slowed down at customs etc. 

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16 hours ago, JLMoran said:

For some who are on a really tight budget, and already keeping themselves to the cheapest cabin possible, the idea of spending another $80-100+ on a passport (card or book) could look exorbitant. Assuming they booked an inside cabin to really keep it cheap, that could be 20-25% of the per-person rate. If they already used up whatever vacation money they saved up to pay for the cruise, they may well just not have the funds. And if that cruise is the only one they'll take in the next 5+ years, the idea of spending the money on the passport may seem even more ludicrous.

 

For us we figure in the cost of the passport as part of the cost of doing business.  I get some people are on a budget but in the grand scheme of things a passport that lasts 5 or 10 years for adults costing 100 bucks or so is relatively insignificant. Mine and the wife's passport are valid for 10 years.  That works out to 32 dollars a year between the two of us. The little one's is good for 5 years, or until it doesn't look like her- whichever comes first. Her passport costs significantly less.

Again, there could come a time where a passport is required for any travel.  I'd hate to get to a country's border and be turned away just because I only had a birth certificate and a DL.

I had a passport long before I needed to have a passport and I appreciate the freedom it affords me.

Anyway- just my 5 cents ( In Canada we don't have pennies anymore..)

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