More flyers are using Real ID documents needed for domestic air travel after a new program launched on Feb. 1 to charge $45 for identity verification for travelers without Real ID documents.
“It’s been really successful,” said R. Carter Langston, a Transportation Security Administration spokesperson.
So far between 95% to 99% of travelers have presented documents nationally that comply with the federal Real ID act, he said. Newark Liberty Airport is in line with the national statistics, he said.
“They’re coming through with state issued Real ID or other acceptable IDs,” he said.
Accepted documents include state-issued Real ID driver’s licenses and ID cards, passports, Global Entry cards, and other federal IDs.
These documents all meet the federal requirements established by a law passed in 2005 after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Rules requiring domestic air travelers to show a Real ID document took effect on May 7, 2025.
While New Jersey trails other states in Real ID licenses and ID cards used, more state residents hold passports and use that document at TSA checkpoints, officials said.
Most flyers who need to use the new Confirm ID program are arriving at TSA checkpoint having prepaid the $45 fee, Langston said.
“Most of the passengers are coming after they paid the fee online,” he said. “It has no impact on the operation of security lines.”
Langston credited a joint education program between the TSA, airlines and airport operators reminding flyers to bring a Real ID document to the airport and about Confirm ID.
Signs were posted at Newark Airport, alerting travelers without a Real ID to the Confirm ID program and displaying QR codes to take them to the payment website.
Confirm ID streamlines the process the TSA created in March 2025 for travelers who did not have a Real ID document. That was a more lengthy process that involved putting the traveler on a phone call to a federal Identity Verification and Command Center to answer questions to prove their identity.
Travelers can check the TSA website for a list of all accepted identification documents that meet the federal Real ID act standards, Langston said.
Concerns about the Confirm ID program and difficulty New Jersey drivers have getting timely Real ID appointments led U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., to ask the state Motor Vehicle Commission to increase Real ID appointment availability.
Gottheimer asked Acting MVC Chief Administrator Rosalie Johnson in a Feb. 6 letter to “expand appointment capacity statewide, extend evening and weekend hours, deploy mobile and pop-up Real ID services, and pursue other creative solutions.”
“Now facing a costly penalty, far too many residents still cannot secure appointments to get a Real ID in New Jersey,” he said.
While there are plenty of available appointments, the earliest available appointment may be months away at certain MVC agencies, Gottheimer said.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill nominated Johnson in January, citing a 97% Real ID compliance rate in Colorado where she was deputy senior director of that state’s Department of Motor Vehicles.
MVC officials said that new Acting Chief Johnson has hit the ground running and plans a data-driven review to “optimize how Real IDs are issued.”
