A new program from the Transportation Security Administration will charge travelers $18 to pass through airport security if they are not carrying valid identification, such as Real ID or a passport.
According to the agency, the fee will cover the cost of a “modernized alternative identity verification program” that relies on biometrics instead of documents or interviews.
A Federal Register notice posted Thursday explained the new initiative. Travelers who arrive at the airport without correct identification can choose to use the automated biometric kiosk. The $18 fee, which will “address the government-incurred costs,” is nonrefundable and valid for 10 days. Even with payment, entry into the secured area is not guaranteed, the register noted.
The memo did not mention a timeline for the installation and deployment of the kiosks, which airports will participate in the program or how people will submit their payment. According to the notice, TSA will open registration for the identity-verification program before it begins collecting fees.
“This notice serves as a next step in the process in REAL ID compliance, which was signed into law more than 20 years ago and finally implemented by Secretary Noem as of May 2025,” the TSA said in a statement. “Additional guidance will be announced in the coming days.”
The majority of travelers are ID-compliant — around 94 percent, according to the TSA. However, Caleb Harmon-Marshall, a former TSA officer and founder of the travel newsletter Gate Access, said people are still showing up at security unprepared.
“Travelers arriving at TSA checkpoints without proper ID is very common,” Harmon-Marshall said. “It’s so common that now the government can capitalize off of it.”
Gary Leff, founder of the travel blog View From the Wing, said a few hundred people a day are subjected to alternative screening because they lack proper ID.
“When you don’t have ID, they don’t send you away,” Leff said. “There’s a process where they get commercially available information about you and have you verify your identity with questions like what addresses have you had in the past, where have you worked and what car have you owned.”
Leff said the biometric kiosk will replace this more time-consuming method, an advantage echoed by the TSA.
“The current alternative identity verification process is time and resource intensive, limiting the number of individuals for whom TSA can provide the service,” the Federal Register post said.
The TSA noted that the $18 fee falls under a congressional directive that allows the agency to “impose a fee for any registered traveler program undertaken by the Department of Homeland Security.” The amount cannot “exceed the aggregate costs associated with the program.”
According the Federal Register memo, the fee will cover such expenses as information technology infrastructure and services; software development; identity verification and validation; mobile computing; data infrastructure, integration, security and compliance; program management; and customer service and administrative expenses.
The TSA said it will publish the fees on its website and may “update” the program’s amount and availability in the Federal Register.
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