- A gold star on your identification will be required to fly or enter federally restricted facilities after Wednesday.
Mississippians who plan to travel commercially by air and/or access military and secure federal facilities will want to ensure their form of identification is REAL ID compliant.
REAL ID forms of identification will include a gold star in the right-upper corner of the front of the card.
The deadline to have a REAL ID to fly or access those facilities is Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
While a REAL ID will be required to book a commercial flight and access federal and military facilities, a valid passport can be presented instead.
“If you have a passport, you also can use that to travel as well,” Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Sean Tindell told Magnolia Tribune. “This is just for primarily for the purposes of flying. If you’re going to be traveling you’re going to need that REAL ID to get on the plane.”
REAL IDs will also be required to gain access to nuclear power plants.
Residents will not require a REAL ID to drive, vote, conduct banking transactions, apply for federal benefits or access hospitals, post offices and federal courts. Mississippians who do not have a need for a REAL ID can still use their current driver’s license.
“It’s a deadline that you have to have it if you want to fly, but we will continue to update people’s driver’s licenses and credentials that don’t have it,” Tindell said. “If you still got a driver’s license that doesn’t have the gold star, it’s still a valid driver’s license. If you get stopped by law enforcement they are still going to work.”
Persons younger than 18 are not required by TSA to have a REAL ID to board a plane so long as they are accompanied by an adult with a REAL ID or passport.
State residents who do not already have a gold star on their ID can purchase a duplicate by bringing their social security card, birth certificate and two forms of proof of residency within Mississippi. Online appointments can also be set to obtain a REAL ID by visiting here.
For those who were issued a REAL ID years ago but did not bring their birth certificate and social security card when it was initially issued, Tindell said there is no need to bring that documentation because the Driver Service Bureau more than likely already has those documents on file.
“You got that gold star, you will be able to fly,” Tindell explained.
REAL ID was enacted through an Act passed by Congress two decades ago, with an initial deadline of May 3, 2023. The effects of COVID-19 caused the federal government to push the deadline back to this year.
Tindell said the push for REAL ID was enacted by Congress in response to the tragedies of 9/11, leading to a desire from all 50 states to ensure people are issued credentials based on their true identity. The goal is to prevent those with ill intent from stealing someone’s identity to conduct terroristic acts or engage in identity theft.
“So, while I think Mississippi has been doing a real good job of that, some other states may not have,” Tindell added. “This is trying to bring some uniformity across the nation on how our driver’s licenses are handled. By doing so, when an individual gets on that plane, we’re going to know they are who they say they are.”
While the Driver Service Bureaus across the state have seen an uptick in people updating their identification cards recently, Tindell said the state is already 98 percent compliant prior to the deadline.
For comparison, Alabama currently has a two to three month waiting list of residents who are waiting for their appointment to obtain a REAL ID, he added.
Residents who still need to update their identification can do so after the deadline, however they will not be able to board a commercial plane or enter the restricted facilities until a REAL ID or passport is obtained.
Jeremy Pittari
