Maine's Bureau of Motor Vehicles now says that residents in Maine have until May 7, 2025, to get a REAL ID driver's license or ID card. They will need that by May 7, 2025, in order to board planes in the U.S., without carrying a U.S. passport or passport card.
This is a later date than May 3, 2023, the prior deadline, as explained in this NewsBreak article on November 26.
The bottom line is that everyone in Maine will need to get a REAL ID driver's license at some point. Here is what a sample Maine REAL ID license looks like:
This shows that there is a star in the middle of a picture of the state of Maine in the upper right-hand corner. That is what designates this license as a REAL ID license.
The applicant for a REAL ID license must present documents to the Maine BMV in person that prove they are a U.S. citizen, or else have a valid, unexpired visa to be in the U.S.
That could be one reason why the Biden Administration extended the deadline on Dec. 5, 2022. Officially, this was due to Covid, even though the ravaging effects of the pandemic are mostly gone in the U.S., as the majority of people have gotten a vaccine. But there could also have been policy-related reasons.
That means that the Biden Administration might want people to be able to fly on planes that don't have a REAL ID and so they extended the deadline. I discussed this in an article on the Texas immigration situation and the documents that migrants can receive once they apply for asylum.
The bottom line is that Maine residents will need to get a REAL ID on or before May 7, 2025, in order to fly on planes in the U.S., as well as to enter secure federal facilities.
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Mark R. Hake, CFA, writes articles on national and local news, stocks, and market events at InvestorPlace.com, Barchart.com, Medium.com, and Newsbreak.com as well as TalkMarkets.
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