I am planning an international trip in a few months. Do I need this to travel? What does a real ID actually do?

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I am planning an international trip in a few months. Do I need this to travel? What does a real ID actually do?

If you have a passport you don’t need a Real ID drivers license.

Eventually Real ID will be required for domestic flights (unless you have a passport). They keep pushing the date for that further into the future.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I am planning an international trip in a few months. Do I need this to travel? What does a real ID actually do?

Real ID is a 'Security Theater' construct of the .gov that is supposed to prevent future 9/11 style high-jacking of commercial aircraft. In reality it does nothing but get you a 'Gold Star' on your Drivers License. 'IF' it is ever actually implemented as a mandate for air travel (they've been postponing it for MANY years!), you'll need one to board any domestic flights in the US. That said, your Passport (required for International Travel anyway) will suffice to get you on the plane for your upcoming trip.

Thanks guys, if passport and state issued DL is all I need that makes me happy. I don't know what the post COVID protocols are for going to the DMV nowadays. At one point they didn't allow walk-ins.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

I am planning an international trip in a few months. Do I need this to travel? What does a real ID actually do?

You need a passport for international travel. "Real ID" Driver License is not required, and actually is meaningless for international travel.

I don't remember for sure, but I believe that a passport card is not valid for international air travel, I think you need the booklet form of passport.

One of my motivations was for when I buy guns out here in CA.

Had to bring my birth certificate and another document with my address on it because my passport is expired and I didn't have a Real ID.

I had to do the same to buy ammo too. Thank god that just got struck down in the courts as unconstitutional

quote:

Originally posted by PR64:
I had to do the same to buy ammo too. Thank god that just got struck down in the courts as unconstitutional

That was a pleasing start to my weekend.

I've noticed more and more airports are using facial ID and that is compared to your realID license (or Passport). Smaller airports still use manual verification, which is the delay in the mandate from what I understand.

When I went for my license last year, I opted for the RealID as I was doing more travel for work and don't like carrying my passport around (chance of loos, theft, or damage). The DMV clerk was trying to talk me out of it, as if he didn't want to do it. I told him that I was sorry if it was more work for him, but I wanted it done, a supervisor overheard my complaint and took over.

Here we go with this BS

On May 7, 2025, U.S. travelers must be REAL ID compliant to board domestic flights

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:

…I'm 67 and was born in Louisiana. I have my original birth cert., bit it's fragile and raggedy. It is extremely cumbersome to get a copy from LA. …

I just noticed this post as this thread was bumped. Being in Louisiana I looked to see if I could help you. It seems that I cannot get a copy for you as I am not a close relative, but it appears you can get one with little hassle from an authorized online vendor for $15.

Here’s a link to the Louisiana website:

https://ldh.la.gov/page/how-to-order-birth-records

Scroll down to “INTERNET, FAX AND TELEPHONE”, and look at the link for “VitalChek Network”. Here’s the link if you trust me:

https://www.vitalchek.com/v/vi...29930273374210&ppc=0

Forgot to add this gem to the story

Months after obtaining my real Id in ca I get a letter saying I had not documented myself well enough and they were mailing me a letter to my home address to verify that address and all I needed to do was sign and return the letter and that would be proof of residency to them. Such a cluster.

A few years back in order to clean some stuff up I went ahead and ordered a fresh birth certificate from the state and a new soc sec Card from the feds. My original were old and tattered

Just makes me wonder how are all these thousands of newly arriving folks all going to prove their identity? Wait Nevermind…

So we actual Americans will need Soviet-style internal passports to travel inside our own country but all these illegals flooding in are being allowed to fly all over the country with no ID, no documents?

How is this not being challenged in the courts?

We got the stepped up Enhanced DL some states have. Luckily it was a super easy process. It works as a land passport to Canada.

I’ve never had an actual passport but plan to. Not looking forward to that hassle

My name on my state license, my CCW license, my birth certificate, social security card, and passport do not match. The names are close, but not exact.

You should see the vein popping out of their head when I hand over these documents and they have no idea what to do. I usually just tell them to pick one.

The oddest thing when I was denied mine because of my laminated SS card is that I remember telling the examiner that this is the same set of ID I used for my license to carry. I said, "So you guys will let me carry a concealed weapon, but you won't put a star on my DL." Pretty silly.