Real ID enforcement deadline extended to May 2023

News Release from City and County of Honolulu, April 27, 2021

HONOLULU – Oahu residents now have an additional 19 months to get the REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and state identification cards before they will need it to board domestic flights and enter some federal buildings.

The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back the enforcement deadline from October 1, 2021 to May 3, 2023 in light of the ongoing pandemic, which created on Oahu a backlog of 90,000 expired driver’s licenses that were not renewed last year.

REAL ID-complaint credentials will be required at airport security checkpoints on May 3, 2023, when every air traveler over age 18 will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or another acceptable form of ID to fly within the United States, including the Hawaiian Islands.

More than 75 percent of Oahu motorists now have a REAL ID driver’s license that features a star in a gold circle at the top.

Of the 620,990 active driver’s licenses issued on Oahu, 478,808 are REAL ID-compliant, and of the 221,770 state identification cards, 84,562 have a card with the star inside a gold circle in the upper right-hand corner.

“As our attention remains focused on eliminating a pandemic-caused backlog by the end of the year, this latest extension will give us much-needed time to make additional resources available to better meet public demand for access to appointments to obtain driver’s licenses or state identification cards that comply with the federal government’s Real ID law,” said Nola Miyasaki, director of the city’s Department of Customer Services.

To get a REAL ID-compliant driver license on Oahu, residents will need to make an initial in-person visit to a driver licensing office with a completed application and the required documents. Residents can get information on the required document at the city’s REAL ID webpage. There is no additional fee to obtain a REAL ID-compliant card.

Residents who have already presented in person and have documents on file can request a duplicate card – for the purpose of obtaining the star marking – online at honolulu.gov/csd.

—PAU—