REAL ID deadline is approaching

The REAL ID deadline is coming up shortly, on May 7. People will need a REAL ID-compliant identification card to board a domestic flight or enter a military base or other federal facilities.
A driver’s license with a star in the corner will meet the qualifications, as will a U.S. passport, green card or military ID. Tribal IDs from federally recognized tribes may also be used. Children under 18 do not need identification to travel domestically.
REAL ID compliant cards will have a star marking in the corner.
You can find a list of source documents currently accepted by Alaska for REAL-ID card here.

Tribal IDs
“TSA accepts IDs from Federally recognized Tribes. If your ID cannot be scanned by technology, you will be asked for a secondary ID that can be scanned,” says the Transportation and Security Administration website. “If you do not have a second ID, your Tribal ID will be inspected manually and cross-referenced with the Federal Register.”
Kawerak is working with local tribes to update Tribal IDs, but there is a lack of certainty around what will be accepted.   
“There’s no way for me to guarantee what’s going to happen after May 7,” said Cheri McConnell, the Tribal Affairs Program Director at Kawerak. “There’s no way we can guarantee what some TSA agent in Florida, or some place in the world is going to do with a tribal ID he’s not used to seeing.”
McConnell said that tribes were checking to make sure that the IDs matched the following criteria: That they are manufactured by a federally recognized tribe; that they have an expiration date and an issue date, include an address and the tribal enrollment number; that the id’s have the person’s height, weight and hair color, and a picture. She said IDs produced since January 1, 2022, were likely to meet these criteria.
“We believe those will be sufficient to go through TSA,” said McConnell. However, she said, they had recently learned that those IDs might be manually checked to ensure that they were on the registry with the federal government. Tribal entity names have to be exact—for example, Native Village of Savoonga, instead of a variation.
“We have always been told from TSA and Homeland Security, that if you had those seven elements, and it was a federally recognized tribe, you are good to go,” said McConnell. “It wasn’t until recently that they said, ‘Oh, but if you don’t have the barcode and the gold star, we’re gonna scrutinize you more.’”
Now, Kawerak and the tribes are updating the cards to include a scannable barcode and a gold star. She believes that with these two components, TSA will not need anything further but emphasized that she couldn’t promise anything.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen on May 7, but that’s what we’re being told, and that’s the goal we’re working towards,” said McConnell. “And we’re getting very close to that goal.”
Before the barcode component can be added, each tribe must update their software. Each tribe is working on this, and will have a plan for their membership to obtain the new cards. Since only around 25 cards can be printed at a time before the machines need to rest there may be delays, according to McConnell.

DMV timelines
As for driver’s licenses, in Alaska, it can take one to two weeks from a DMV appointment to receipt of a new license document by mail, according to Forrest Wolfe, public information officer for the Alaska Department of Administration.
In order to get a REAL ID-compliant license or ID card from the DMV, applicants will need proof of U.S. Citizenship, permanent residency or other lawful status, such as a passport or birth certificate. They will also need two documents containing first and last name and physical residency, not a PO Box. A lease would count, as would a utility bill or a letter on letterhead from a shelter confirming the person lived in Alaska.
“Credential processing typically can take about one to two weeks from the time of your appointment/visit to the DMV to receipt of the document by mail,” Wolfe wrote to the Nugget. “During periods of increased demand—such as leading up to major deadlines—processing and mailing times can occasionally extend slightly.”
At Nome’s contract DMV office, Al Burgo suggested a similar timeline, estimating that due to the uptick in license requests, it could take two weeks or more to get the new license. He added that people could not travel with a temporary license.
Driver’s license credentials are produced at a secure facility in Chanhassen, Minnesota, and are delivered via the U.S. Postal Service, according to Wolfe.

The DMV contract agent for Nome is Trinity Sales and Repair, at 306 West 5th Avenue, Suite 183, Nome; phone: 907-290-3930.  By appointment only.