NJ Travelers, Here's How To Meet REAL ID Requirements

NEW JERSEY — If you've boarded a flight to or from New Jersey recently, you have likely seen signs about the deadline to get a REAL ID, which will be required for domestic flights beginning next May.

Adult travelers who normally show their driver's license or state ID when passing through airport security will have to get a new card to comply with the federal regulations, if they have not done so already. The REAL ID-compliant cards will have a star in the top right corner.

Homeland Security officials set May 7, 2025, as the final date for getting the gold star to board domestic flights and enter certain federal offices, after moving the deadline multiple times.

Past that date, federal agencies — including the Transportation Security Administration — will no longer accept identification that does not meet the new standards. Travelers can still show a valid U.S. passport, Global Entry Card, or another federally-approved form of identification to pass through a TSA checkpoint.

Some individual states have specific requirements to get a REAL ID card. To get one in New Jersey, you must bring two proofs of residential address, one proof of Social Security Number and six points of ID (a U.S. Passport or birth certificate counts for four points; one-point forms of ID include a high school diploma, social security card, bank/credit union statement, debit card, property tax statement and more).

"Ensure your license or basic ID is upgraded by May 7, 2025, if typically used for domestic air travel," the state Motor Vehicle Commission noted.

Click here to find an appointment through the NJMVC.

Garden State residents who don’t plan to fly domestically or visit a federal office don’t need to do anything. A REAL ID isn't required to get a driver's license. Also, the TSA won’t require children under 18 to provide identification when they’re traveling with an adult companion within the United States, but the companion must have acceptable identification.

The REAL ID is not a substitute for a passport required for international travel, and it also does not affect the ability to vote or register to vote, applications for federal benefits, enter federal facilities that don’t require identification, obtain medical care, or participate in police proceedings or investigations.

The REAL ID Act of 2005 was passed by Congress after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In addition to the stars on REAL ID driver's licenses, the cards themselves will be built with new technology, making them much more difficult to forge, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Here are other forms of identification that will be accepted in lieu of a REAL ID, according to the TSA:

• U.S. passport
• U.S. passport card
• Department of Homeland Security trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
• U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
• Permanent resident card
• Border crossing card
• An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe
• Personal Identity Verification Card (HSPD-12 PIV card)
• Foreign government-issued passport
• Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
• Transportation worker identification credential
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
• U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
• Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)

Patch's Nicole Rosenthal contributed to this report.