President Donald Trump has extended the deadline for residents to obtain a REAL ID. He made the decision in a White House briefing on Monday. The move comes as a direct result of COVID-19 concerns.
The President said: “I’m also announcing that we’re postponing the deadline for compliance with REAL ID requirements. At a time when we’re asking Americans to maintain social distancing, we don’t want to require people to go with their local DMV. We will be announcing the new deadline very soon. It’s going to be announced in a very short moment.”
Last week, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi advised against requiring people to wait in a crowded waiting room for hours.
In a joint statement, they said: “For implementation to go smoothly, the Department of Homeland Security would need tens of millions of Americans to get new identifications over the next several months. Creating lines at Departments of Motor Vehicles would be foolish during a pandemic.”
A REAL ID, or REAL ID-compliant identification, will eventually be required to board a domestic flight or enter a federal building in the U.S..
The Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles provides an online guide to know which documents are required to apply for a REAL ID, and they advise that everyone prepare, as the application must be done in-person.