Is your ID enhanced? Air travelers scramble to meet May 7 deadline

New U.S. Department of Homeland Security identification requirements go into effect May 7 for domestic air travel, as well as for entry into some federal offices, when the long-delayed federal REAL ID Act goes into effect.

The law requires adults to show proof of citizenship or immigration status, with options including a passport or passport card, military ID, green card, or a state-issued enhanced driver's license or ID card.

The looming deadline has led to long wait times at some Washington State Department of Licensing offices as people line up to get their regular IDs replaced with enhanced cards, many scrambling ahead of scheduled flights in May.

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Online appointments at driver licensing offices along the I-5 corridor have been booked solid, leaving most customers to walk in and wait.

On Wednesday, Gretchen Pegram clutched a blue folder as she stood in a long, snaking line outside the Shoreline driver licensing office. The estimated wait time was two and a half hours, but Pegram felt prepared.

“Oh, my Lord, I have my birth certificate. I have my marriage certificate. I have my title for my car. Just to prove where I live, which was really hard, because everything's in my husband's name,” Pegram said.

Pegram joked she’d “procrastinated” ahead of the law change.

“They gave us plenty of time,” she said. The law passed 20 years ago but is only now going into effect after repeated delays. Pegram took time off work to get an enhanced driver's license so she can fly to Tucson to spend Mother’s Day with her mom.

Pegram was upbeat, answering questions about the process to new people who joined the line. Others were dejected after officials told them they didn’t have all the necessary documents — a list that is much longer for some than others based on their life circumstances.

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Maria Day Johnson said she was turned away after three and a half hours because she’d changed her name in past marriages, and had not been aware that she needed to provide her divorce decrees for an enhanced driver’s license application. Day Johnson has a flight the day after the REAL ID Act goes into effect to see her mother in Indiana.

“She's 94 years old, and they're telling me, because of my name, I can't go, I can't fly. That's ridiculous,” Pegram said.

“I flew there, what, six months ago, no problem. Now the changes, enhancement crap. Now I might not get to go,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears.

Day Johnson said she was determined, however, and that her next stop would be the King County Courthouse to buy copies of the missing documents.

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Wait times for enhanced driver's licenses and ID cards can vary dramatically between driver licensing offices and are posted on the DOL website.

The agency also offers a website laying out the federal REAL ID requirements, including which forms of identification comply, and what is needed to apply for enhanced licenses or ID cards at DOL offices.