TSA Announces Final Mobile Driver's License Acceptance at Airport Security, Federal Buildings

  • Oct 30, 2024

Consistent with the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) efforts to enhance the passenger experience, TSA published a final rule in the Federal Register that would allow passengers to continue using mobile driver’s licenses (mDL) for identity verification at TSA airport security checkpoints once REAL ID enforcement begins on May 7, 2025.

The final rule, effective November 25, 2024, allows states to apply to TSA for a temporary waiver of certain REAL ID requirements written in the REAL ID regulations. Once approved, those state mDLs will continue to be accepted at TSA airport security checkpoints. TSA will publish on its website a list of states where mDLs are approved for federal acceptance. After emerging industry standards and federal guidelines are finalized, TSA intends to issue a future rulemaking to set more comprehensive requirements for mDLs that will eventually replace the waiver provisions established by this rule.

An mDL is a digital representation of a state-issued physical driver’s license that is typically installed through an application on the user’s smartphone and stored in a digital wallet, similar to how many users currently store their physical credit cards on their smartphones. The information from the digital wallet is read after the smartphone is either tapped against an mDL reader or scanned under the reader to establish the validity of the mDL and a person’s identity.

TSA currently accepts mDLs issued by 11 states at 27 participating airports and has a goal of accepting mDLs in all airports, by expanding the technology nationwide. These states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio and Utah.

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