Almost all licensed Nebraska drivers and identification-card holders now carry REAL IDs. By contrast, most in Illinois don’t.
Adoption of the enhanced security driver’s license cards has not been uniform across the 50 states, with deadlines changing several times over nearly two decades.
Trish Vincent, Director of Revenue for Missouri, has watched the process unfold over the years.
“I was the director back in 2005, and I remember talking about Real ID then, and here it is 20 years later, and I’m still talking about Real ID,” she said. “The federal government is finally serious about this (May 7) deadline.”
The cards include anti-counterfeiting technology and additional documentary evidence and record checks to ensure a person is who they claim to be. However, the push for Real ID adoption has been controversial, with criticism from both sides of the aisle.
May 7 is not the last day to apply for a REAL ID, but after that date anyone who plans to travel domestically by air will still need to get one — or have a valid passport. The new card will also be required for entering some federal facilities. It will not be required for driving, voting or buying alcohol or cigarettes.
A Midwest Newsroom review of data for five states shows how uneven the transition to Real ID has been.
At the start of 2025, about a quarter of credentialled Illinois residents had obtained their Real ID cards. By April, that figure had increased by only about 10%, according to the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office.
Max Walczyk, communications manager, said that Illinois began an awareness campaign about the Real ID deadline in May 2024.
“Despite screaming from the rooftops and holding scores of outreach events around the state, we have nevertheless experienced a surge of Illinoisans at our facilities during the past few months,” Walczyk said.
He said the state has added driver’s license office hours and thousands of additional appointment slots to accommodate demand. It opened a Real ID “supercenter” in downtown Chicago, which processes about 1,500 applications each day.
How did Nebraska reach 99.5% compliance? It took early measures to make the Real ID transition mandatory.
“The process to require additional verification documents began in 2009 allowing for Nebraskans to be prepared for the date when all persons would be required to have a Real ID-compliant document for federal purposes,” said Rhonda Lahm, director the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.
In mid-April, Kansas reported a Real ID adoption rate of about 86%. An unsigned email to The Midwest Newsroom from that state’s Department of Revenue said:
“At this point, almost all Kansans have had the chance to obtain a Real ID compliant credential. Those who do not have one at this point likely don’t want one. We do not expect any increase in wait times at DMV offices due to Real ID applications since a majority of Kansans already have them.”
In fact, according to the Kansas DOR, more than 300,000 people in that state have opted to obtain traditional driver’s licenses and ID cards instead of the Real ID. Kansas began issuing the new cards in 2017.
A message to The Midwest Newsroom attributed the high rate of adoption to “a strong effort to market Real ID to Kansans through social media and in-office advertising. Additionally, we have tried to make it as easy as possible to get a Real ID-compliant credential through resources on our website, such as a page explaining what documents are required to obtain a Real ID credential and the ability to schedule appointments in advance.”
Getting Real (ID)
In general, all 50 states require Real ID applicants to show:
- Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful status
- Proof of address (usually with two documents, like utility bills)
- Valid Social Security number that can be verified through the Social Security Administration
In addition, anyone who has changed their name after marriage must provide their birth certificate and marriage license. Each state provides a portal to information about the documents required.
Iowa started issuing the new cards in 2013. Toni Smith, Iowa’s Real ID program manager, said state driver’s license offices have been busier than usual in recent days.
“Busy, but manageable,” Smith said after a recent visit to a Des Moines office. “We’ve had the most Real ID transactions ever within a week last week.”
Smith said more than 85% of travelers flying out of the Des Moines airport are already using Real ID cards. A TSA spokesperson told The Midwest Newsroom that about 81% of current U.S. travelers already use a Real ID or an approved alternative form of identification, such as a passport.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said, as of April, about 60% of the country’s driver’s license and state ID card holders had Real IDs. The State Department estimates that between 45% and 50% of Americans hold valid passports.
It’s not yet clear whether people who don’t have such documents will be turned away at TSA checkpoints.
Delays and skepticism
The Real ID Act was passed by Congress about four years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The 9/11 Commission concluded that it was too easy for people to obtain driver’s licenses. The commission called for ID requirements to be tightened and nationally standardized. Many lawmakers and advocates referred to the act as an “anti-terrorism” measure at the time.
In 2008, as the first deadline was extended, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff predicted that three types of people would be unhappy with the new IDs.
“Terrorists and people who want to get on airplanes and in federal buildings and avoid terrorist watch lists, illegal immigrants who want to work in this country by pretending to be American citizens, and conmen,” he said.
The deadline for all 50 states to transition to the Real ID system continued to change amid opposition from lawmakers and governors about costs and what many predicted would be “nightmare” delays and confusion at driver’s license offices around the country.
As reported by NPR: “DMV agents will have to make complicated judgments about a person’s lawful status in the United States,” the New York Civil Liberties Union wrote in a 2007 statement, before the original deadline for compliance.
Finally, in 2020, all the states were on board issuing the new, more secure cards. At that time, DHS said in a news release: “50 states have issued more than 105 million REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards, representing 38 percent of all driver’s licenses and identification card holders.”
Both Illinois and Missouri delayed issuing Real ID cards until 2019.
As late as 2017, Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder was against the adoption of the enhanced security measures.
“The real-world implication of a nationalized ID system, with biometric photo data that allows for long-distance identification and tracking of residents, is disturbing,” he said in an online statement.
As of April 15, the Missouri Department of Revenue reported that about 45% of credentialed residents had transitioned to Real IDs. Vincent said the skepticism about the program requirements has contributed to some Missourians’ slowness to apply for the new cards.
“Some of the documents that people may need, people don’t want us to have them in our system, because we scan them in our system and retain them. I think that some people don’t like that,” Vincent said.
Other residents, she said, have valid passports for travel purposes and don’t anticipate entering federal facilities.
“It’s up to the individual card holder,” she said.
Many Illinois lawmakers were early opponents of the Real ID Act on the grounds that it violated “rights and liberties guaranteed under the Illinois Constitution or the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.” When the state finally did begin issuing the cards in 2019, Henry Haupt, a spokesman for the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, said:
“There is no need to rush out to apply for a Real ID.”
The rush is on now. A message on the Illinois Secretary of State website reads:
“Due to the federally-mandated Real ID requirements, our facilities and website have been overwhelmed with requests for Real IDs. As a result, we’re asking everyone to make sure they really need a REAL ID before booking an appointment or visiting a facility. The May 7th date is NOT a final deadline and everyone can travel with a valid U.S. Passport.”
About the Real ID
The Midwest Newsroom is an investigative and enterprise journalism collaboration that includes Iowa Public Radio, KCUR, Nebraska Public Media, St. Louis Public Radio and NPR.
There are many ways you can contact us with story ideas and leads, and you can find that information here.
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METHODOLOGY
For this story, Holly Edgell interviewed officials from Iowa and Missouri via Zoom. She received information from officials in Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska in response to email queries. She requested and received data about Real ID adoption from each state represented in the article. In addition, Edgell conducted research into the historical delays associated with Real ID implementation.
REFERENCES
Do you need a REAL ID by the spring deadline? Here’s how many IL residents have one. The Belleville News-Democrat (Feb. 5, 2025)
Americans Scramble for Real ID Appointments. Newsweek (April 9, 2025)
What you need to know as the May 7 Real ID deadline approaches. NPR (April 10, 2025)
Be your Real ID Self. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (April 2025)
All U.S. States Now Compliant Ahead of REAL ID Deadline. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Sept. 10, 2020)
TYPE OF ARTICLE
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
