Some have logged on late at night. Others have driven for hours. And some have just given up. All in the hunt for a coveted appointment for a Real ID.
Starting on Wednesday, travelers in the United States will need a Real ID, passport or other federally recognized document to board domestic flights, a requirement that has sent many Americans scrambling for the security-enhanced, star-emblazoned identification cards.
Perhaps nowhere is the search for appointments as intense as it is in New Jersey, where just 17 percent of state-issued IDs are Real IDs, according to a recent CBS News analysis of data from state motor vehicle agencies across the country. No other state had a lower compliance rate.
Melissa Sussko, 26, of Nutley, N.J., said the only reason she had managed to find an appointment for a Real ID at the Motor Vehicle Commision office in Wayne, N.J., was because a friend had recommended looking for openings on the agency’s website at midnight. So she logged on at midnight and snagged one.
Another friend, she said, was planning to drive to Cape May, on the southern tip of New Jersey, to get her Real ID at the only Motor Vehicle Commission office where she could find an appointment.
“Everyone I know is fighting to get one,” Ms. Sussko said. “You can’t find any, at all.”
Al Sohi, 54, a driving instructor in North Caldwell, N.J., said he had given up looking for an appointment and planned to use his passport if he needed to travel.
“I wanted to get a Real ID; I can’t find the appointment,” he said. “It’s terrible. They should do something to accommodate all the people who want a Real ID.”
Some other states say they are also struggling to handle a surge of interest in Real IDs, as news spreads that the Department of Homeland Security will require the identification cards at airport checkpoints and federal facilities starting on Wednesday, after repeatedly extending the deadline for years.
Long lines have been reported at motor vehicle offices in New York State, where 43 percent of state-issued IDs are Real IDs, and Maine, which has 27 percent compliance, according to the CBS data. Pennsylvania, which reported 26 percent compliance, has also faced a flood of applications.
“We have tens of thousands of folks weekly that are showing up at our driver’s license centers to get the Real ID,” Michael B. Carroll, Pennsylvania’s secretary of transportation, said at a recent news conference. “It’s a real challenge for us right now because folks have waited until the last minute.”
CBS News found that 30 states were less than 70 percent compliant with the Real ID requirement. Officials in many of those states, including New Jersey, say they are working to accommodate everyone who needs a Real ID and emphasize that, for many, there is no reason to panic.
“Demand is very high right now, and our challenges are not unique to New Jersey — every state in the nation is facing similar pressures as enforcement approaches,” said William Connolly, a spokesman for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
New Jersey has been issuing about 23,000 Real IDs per week and posting thousands of new appointments on its online scheduling tool each morning, Mr. Connolly said. New Jersey also has a Real ID “emergency issuance program” for residents who have to fly within 14 days for “life-or-death reasons” or have other “urgent travel plans.”
Officials expect demand for Real IDs to ease in the coming weeks and months. And many travelers may not need Real IDs to fly. Passengers will still be able to pass through airport security with other forms of acceptable identification such as a U.S. passport, a Global Entry card, a Department of Defense ID or a permanent resident card, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Travelers who only have standard state-issued driver’s licenses should “expect to face delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint,” the T.S.A. said in a statement last month. The agency recommends that these passengers allow themselves an extra hour to pass through airport security and says, if possible, to bring another form of identification such as a birth certificate or a Social Security card.
“We have other ways to verify your identity if you don’t have a Real ID or acceptable form of ID but know that this process may take longer, so you’ll need to arrive at the airport early, and you should be good to go,” the T.S.A. said in a recent “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit aimed at easing anxiety around the Wednesday deadline.
New Jersey officials say there are several reasons relatively few residents have gotten Real IDs, even though the state has been issuing them since 2019.
For one, New Jersey is the state with the highest percentage of citizens with passports, 80 percent, according to data compiled by the Center for American Progress. Those people will not need a Real ID to board a plane if they show their passport.
New Jersey also allows undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses, but they cannot obtain a Real ID because the federal standards require proof of legal status.
Residents in New Jersey can upgrade to a Real ID when renewing their licenses, but they are not required to. Some other states like Maryland, which has 99 percent Real ID compliance, require residents who are renewing to get Real IDs.
To apply for a Real ID, people generally need to provide a Social Security number or proof of ineligibility, verify their address with utility bills, bank statements or other documents, and prove their identity and legal status with additional documents, including a birth certificate or a passport.
Gathering those documents is one thing. Finding an appointment is another. “I went online and no appointments here, no appointments in Wyckoff,” said Lou Petricone, 75, of Wayne, N.J., who has his Real ID but was hoping to get one for his wife. “And my son-in-law is a principal in Nutley, and he had to go to Piscataway and he was there for three hours.”
Michael Levenson covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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