{"id":3796,"date":"2025-12-09T17:47:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T17:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theinformantusa.com\/?p=3796"},"modified":"2025-12-09T17:47:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T17:47:06","slug":"starting-feb-1-2026-travelers-without-real-id-must-pay-45-for-tsa-confirm-id-verification-state-dept-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theinformantusa.com\/?p=3796","title":{"rendered":"STARTING FEB. 1, 2026, TRAVELERS WITHOUT REAL ID MUST PAY $45 FOR TSA \u201cCONFIRM ID\u201d VERIFICATION, STATE DEPT. SAYS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><em>The new rule applies to all travelers flying <em>within or from<\/em> the United States. Passports remain fully valid alternatives for domestic flights.<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>U.S. Department of State<\/strong> announced that beginning <strong>February 1, 2026<\/strong>, travelers who do not present a <strong>REAL ID\u2013compliant driver&#8217;s license<\/strong> or another approved form of identification at airport security will be required to pay a <strong>$45 fee<\/strong> to use the Transportation Security Administration\u2019s backup identity-verification system, <strong>TSA Confirm ID<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The charge applies to <strong>all passengers flying domestically or departing from U.S. airports<\/strong>, marking one of the most significant policy shifts since the REAL ID Act was passed in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Officials emphasized that the fee is intended to offset the operational cost of TSA\u2019s alternative verification procedures, which use biometric checks, secure databases, and manual identity authentication when travelers cannot present federally compliant ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">PASSPORT BOOKS &amp; PASSPORT CARDS REMAIN VALID ALTERNATIVES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The State Department reminded travelers that they may use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>A U.S. passport book<\/strong> (valid for domestic &amp; international travel)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A U.S. passport card<\/strong> ($30; valid only for domestic air travel and some land\/sea crossings)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Both documents fully satisfy TSA requirements and <strong>avoid the $45 Confirm ID fee<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Travelers using noncompliant state licenses or IDs will be directed to the TSA Confirm ID line, where the additional charge will be collected before identity verification proceeds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new rule applies to all travelers flying within or from the United States. Passports remain fully valid alternatives for domestic flights. The U.S. Department of State announced that beginning February 1, 2026, travelers who do not present a REAL ID\u2013compliant driver&#8217;s license or another approved form of identification at airport security will be required [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1828,1824,1829,1825,1826,1827],"class_list":["post-3796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-45-identity-verification-airport","tag-domestic-travel-id-requirements","tag-passport-card-domestic-flights","tag-real-id-2026-rule","tag-state-department-real-id-update","tag-tsa-confirm-id-fee"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>STARTING FEB. 1, 2026, TRAVELERS WITHOUT REAL ID MUST PAY $45 FOR TSA \u201cCONFIRM ID\u201d VERIFICATION, STATE DEPT. SAYS - The Informant USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theinformantusa.com\/?p=3796\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"STARTING FEB. 1, 2026, TRAVELERS WITHOUT REAL ID MUST PAY $45 FOR TSA \u201cCONFIRM ID\u201d VERIFICATION, STATE DEPT. SAYS - The Informant USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The new rule applies to all travelers flying within or from the United States. Passports remain fully valid alternatives for domestic flights. The U.S. Department of State announced that beginning February 1, 2026, travelers who do not present a REAL ID\u2013compliant driver&#8217;s license or another approved form of identification at airport security will be required [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theinformantusa.com\/?p=3796\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Informant USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61575215453941\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T17:47:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-09T17:47:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theinformantusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/the-informant-18-1024x576.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"THE INFORMANT USA EDITORIAL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheInformantUSA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheInformantUSA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"THE INFORMANT USA EDITORIAL\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theinformantusa.com\/?p=3796#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theinformantusa.com\/?p=3796\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"THE INFORMANT USA EDITORIAL\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theinformantusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a225d759aad5f3e3286992983049831b\"},\"headline\":\"STARTING FEB. 1, 2026, TRAVELERS WITHOUT REAL ID MUST PAY $45 FOR TSA \u201cCONFIRM ID\u201d VERIFICATION, STATE DEPT. 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