This afternoon, Gov. Mary Fallin signed House Bill 1845, which allows Oklahoma to become compliant with the federal REAL ID Act of 2005. The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety will now begin the process of implementing these changes, which are expected to take 24-30 months to be fully operational.
Oklahoma’s current extension for complying with federal regulations was due to expire in June of this year. It is hoped that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will grant another extension to October 2017 to allow time for implementation of this recently passed legislation.
If this extension is granted, residents could continue to use their current driver licenses or ID cards to board commercial aircraft and enter federal buildings. U.S. passports are also accepted for entry into federal facilities and for boarding commercial aircraft.
The new license or card will have a different appearance from non-compliant versions, with an indicator that it is REAL ID compliant. Non-compliant cards will indicate that they are not to be used for federal identification purposes.
DPS Commissioner Michael C. Thompson said, “We deeply appreciate the Governor’s office and the leadership in the House and Senate for making this law a reality for Oklahoma, and we look forward to implementing REAL ID.”
