For real this time: Alaskans have 6 months to get Real IDs

Alaskans have until May 7, 2025, to switch their driver’s licenses or ID cards to Real IDs if they want to board a commercial airline or enter some federal facilities without an alternative form of federal identification.

The switchover to Real IDs has been challenging — especially in Alaska. The Transportation Security Administration wants to delay enforcing the law for two more years, to 2027, despite the May 2025 deadline.

Real IDs are state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards that meet higher federal security standards set by the Department of Homeland Security. Congress approved the identification upgrade in 2005, but the deadline for enforcing the law has been pushed back again and again.

As of January 2024, the federal Department of Homeland Security estimated that only about 56% of Americans hold Real IDs. In Alaska, only 34% of the roughly 978,243 registered driver’s licenses and identity cards in circulation — a number that includes duplicates — are Real IDs, according to statistics provided by the Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles.

That counts Alaska among the 22 states with the lowest compliance rate, or less than 40%, according to Homeland Security numbers.

Now, about six months out from the deadline, the TSA is seeking a two-year delay for enforcing the law.

The delay could be a boon to Alaskans. However, it doesn’t mean Alaskans should blow off getting Real IDs for a few more years.

“The proposed rule does not extend the REAL ID deadline,” TSA said in a statement this September, the sentence in bold.

Instead, it would allow the public time to prepare for full enforcement, while incentivizing them to do so.

“Travelers without a REAL ID compliant ID or another form of acceptable ID after the May 7, 2025 deadline could face delays at airport security checkpoints,” TSA said in the statement.

Challenges for rural Alaska

For many Alaskans in remote areas, air travel is a lifeline. But the hundreds of miles — and dollars— that stand between rural Alaskans and their closest DMV present a barrier to access for many.

Dan Winkelman, president and CEO of Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., has been sounding the alarm on equitable access to Real ID cards for rural Alaskans since the program first rolled out in Alaska in January 2019. He has twice sent letters to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, asking staff from Alaska’s Department of Motor Vehicles to visit the health corporation’s 30,000 clients who live in 50 remote, largely Alaska Native villages across Southwest Alaska, to ease access for Real IDs.

“It’s going to be a problem for people that need health care in Anchorage,” said Winkelman.

The option to use an alternate ID, including a U.S. passport, a military ID or a tribal ID, doesn’t fully solve the problem, Winkelman said.

Not all village residents have tribal IDs, and fewer have passports or military IDs, making them reliant on driver’s licenses for airline travel, he said.

“We send almost 300 people a week to Anchorage that need a higher level of care,” Winkelman said. “What this means is that people (will be) out of luck if they don’t have that ID.”

Peter Paul of Kipnuk, a village west of Bethel, has yet to get his Real ID. Though he’s able to travel past May using either his military or his tribal ID, he said in a phone interview that his wife and son lack an accepted form of identification.

Just last year, Paul said he was medevaced to the hospital in Bethel for a medical emergency, a necessary trip that could become more challenging for many of his family and community members come May.

“That’s the thing I’m worried about,” Paul said, adding there are many community members who can’t afford the roughly $450 round-trip to the nearest DMV in Bethel. “I wish the government or the state could pay half-and-half, and start going to the villages. That would help the most.”

Bristol Bay Native Corp. took shareholder ID enrollment into its own hands, and determined it was more cost-effective to bring DMV staff to their communities, rather than send community members to their closest DMVs.

Since 2020, the corporation has brought DMV staff to four Bering Sea communities, and issued 266 residents Real IDs, according to Carol Wren, senior vice president of shareholder development.

Each visit cost the corporation about $7,000 in DMV staff airfare, lodging, food and vehicle rentals to also administer driver’s tests, Wren said. Each resident paid their own Real ID fees.

“Everything we do in rural Alaska requires that travel,” Wren said. “If you don’t have the document you need to do that, that’s (going to be) impactful.”

What you need to know

To apply for a REAL ID card, Alaskans must visit a DMV office and present them with a passport, naturalization certificate or a birth certificate to confirm your identity. You’ll also need to bring a Social Security card — or another document that has your Social Security number, such as a pay stub — and two non-handwritten documents that list your primary address, such as rental agreements, mortgage bills, bank records, home utility bills or other DMV-approved documents.

You’ll also need to pay a fee. The Real ID fee is $20, on top of the fee for a driver’s license, permit or ID card, which varies.

If it’s impossible for you to meet the May 7, 2025, deadline — or if you forget — other forms of ID can work. Air travelers, or those seeking entry to federal buildings, have the option to present an alternate ID that meets federal guidelines, including a U.S. passport, a military ID or a tribal ID.

Alaskans 18 or older who hold commercial driver’s licenses, however, are required to obtain Real IDs.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that 34% of the roughly 978,243 registered drivers or identity card holders have switched over to Real IDs. Thirty-four percent of the 978,243 registered drivers licenses and identity cards in circulation are Real IDs, including duplicates.