The government shutdown's effects are slowly starting to show as any agreements to end it come to a halt.
Even though we were all told the federal REAL ID cards wouldn’t be required until October 2020 — when plane passengers will need to present either a REAL ID or a passport — that deadline may be pushed up to just 13 days from now if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) doesn’t certify California’s REAL IDs as compliant with federal regulations or issue an extension, Mercury News reports.
The deadline for California to comply is Thursday, Jan. 10.
So if you waited for hours in a long DMV line to obtain your REAL ID, you might still have to carry a passport to fly and those who still do not have them will also need to carry a passport.
In a statement, DMV spokesman Armando Botello said the agency has been working for about a year to be deemed compliant with REAL ID requirements.
“Unfortunately, due to a lack of response on the part of the federal government with the ongoing shutdown there has been no final confirmation,” Botello said. “The department, along with the governor’s office liaison in Washington D.C. continues to work to get formal notification that the state has been deemed compliant.”
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