Remember 2005? Throwing around quotes from Wedding Crashers, hollering along to “Since U Been Gone” with Kelly Clarkson on the radio, hearing that some dude named Barack Obama was being sworn in to Congress as the newbie senator from Illinois? One more thing happened that year—and we don’t mean the Tom Cruise–Oprah couch incident, though that was major. Congress also passed the Real ID Act.

Now, two decades later, it is *finally* going into effect. On May 7, 2025, anyone flying a domestic flight in the United States will need to show an approved piece of identification, and the old-fashioned driver’s license won’t cut it.

Why the two-decade delay? We’ll get to that in a minute. First, here’s what you need now.

For Washington state residents, an Enhanced Driver’s License will suffice. These pink-topped versions do more than certify you’ve passed the dreaded parallel parking test; they verify US citizenship and state residency. To get one, you’ll need a valid passport or certified birth certificate (or one of a few other special case documents, like certificate of naturalization or consular report of birth abroad). Oh, and a DMV appointment, which have become hard to come by across the country as Americans realize their summer flights could be in jeopardy.

Bonus: A Washington EDL will suffice for land passage between the US and Canada or Mexico, so you don’t need to pack a passport for a Victoria bachelor trip. The Real ID–approved driver’s licenses in most states only certify legal status, not US citizenship, so they aren’t enough at the border.

Washington’s old un-pink driver’s licenses, which didn’t require proof of legal status, will still be issued by state DMVs but can’t be used to get past a TSA checkpoint or to enter a federal facility. (They’ll still work to pick up a six-pack of Bodhizafa at Fred Meyer, though.)

There are a few other options at the airport TSA line. Nationwide, US passports or passport cards, federally recognized tribal-issued photo IDs, permanent resident cards (a.k.a green cards), an I-766 permit, or a foreign passport will also qualify. The TSA also lists a few more documents they will accept, like a Global Entry or NEXUS card, but notes “The list of acceptable IDs is subject to change without notice.”

So the big question: why such a long delay before the 2005 act was implemented? A period so lengthy that low-rise jeans went all the way out of fashion and then back into fashion.

After the program was recommended by the 9/11 Commission, an original 2008 date was set. But before the documents could be required, states had to issue them—and some weren’t quick to comply. Privacy and logistical concerns were raised, and lawyers discussed the effects of the program on undocumented immigrants. And once all the states and territories finally got there, a final date of 2020 looked like it was going to happen, until of course the pandemic shoved it onto a back burner. A try for 2023 also saw too many pandemic-created backlogs to be practical.

Now, finally, here we are. 

So what happens if you find yourself in ye olde TSA screening line without the right salmon-shaded identification? You’ll likely be subject to special screening, and quite possibly will miss your flight. Deep in the federal government’s paperwork it’s noted that the goal is full enforcement by May 5, 2027, two years from now. So there’s a chance you could still make it to Disney World this summer...but we wouldn’t count on it.