Is Your ID Real?

As of May 7, 2025, if you plan to use a state-issued ID or license to fly within the U.S., make sure it is REAL ID compliant. If it is not, you will likely need a passport.  Federal law now requires that people provide certain identification to TSA in order to board domestic flights or enter federal facilities. There is a list of such identification on their website, and it includes: REAL ID driver’s licenses, passports, US passport cards, and photo IDs issued by federally recognized Tribal Nations. Learn more about acceptable identification at the TSA Checkpoint from the Transportation Security Administration.

For those who hold tribal IDs, the TSA does accept them. Their website includes on the list of acceptable identification: “photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs)”. However, if your tribal ID cannot be scanned by technology, you will be asked for a secondary ID that can. If anyone cannot provide the required identification, then TSA may ask you to verify your identity some other way, or may not allow you through the checkpoint.