REAL ID Will Be Required as of October 1, 2020
Starting October 1, 2020, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will be requiring an approved form of identification to board US domestic flights and to enter federal facilities and nuclear plants. US passports, US passport cards and other approved identification can be used in lieu of the state-issued identification; see https://www.tsa.gov/travel/secufrity-screening/identification for the complete list of acceptable identification. Passports and passport cards will still be required for international travel, including Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
State departments of motor vehicles (DMV) offices throughout the United States issue the accepted “REAL ID” identification in the form of driver’s licenses and identification cards. The REAL ID cards will have a star, black or gold, sometimes with an individual state symbol such as a bear in California or the outline of state in South Carolina, in the right-hand corner. After October 1, 2020, state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards, although valid, will not meet the Real ID requirements if they do not have the star. Minors under the age of 18 will not need Real IDs, as long as they are traveling with an adult who has the proper identification. If an unaccompanied minor has a passport, there should be no problems.
Some states, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington, are already issuing “Enhanced Driver’s Licenses”. These will be accepted by the TSA/Homeland Security as they are acceptable border-crossing documents under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and are acceptable alternatives for official federal purposes such as accessing a Federal facility or boarding a commercial aircraft. Some individual agencies may have different requirements. See https://www.dhs.gov/enhanced-drivers-licenses-what-are-they for further information.
If passengers do NOT have an approved REAL ID, they will NOT be allowed to board domestic aircraft, however, if you have a valid passport, you do not need to update a state identification, but you will have to carry it with you for domestic flights. More information is available at https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-public-faqs.