The Transportation Security Administration plans to allow travelers to continue using mobile driver’s licenses to verify their identity at airport security checkpoints after enforcement of REAL ID-compliant documents takes effect l next year.

In a final rule published In the Federal Register on Friday, the TSA said it was establishing a temporary process that would allow states to request waivers from certain Real ID requirements for mobile driver’s licenses – or mDLs – after enforcement begins. higher safety standards on May 7, 2025.

The new measure, which took effect Nov. 25, will allow airports and other federal facilities to accept mDLs for identity verification if the issuing state has received a waiver from the TSA.

Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005, which established more stringent requirements for driver’s licenses and government-issued IDs following the September 11 terrorist attacks. However, implementation of the standards has since been delayed and lawmakers subsequently amended law in 2020 to clarify that mDLs are also covered by REAL ID requirements.

TSA currently accepts mobile driver’s licenses issued by 11 states at 27 airports across the country. Verified personal identification documents are stored on travelers’ mobile phones or in apps. The agency said in a press release that it “aims to accept mDLs at all airports, expanding the technology nationally.”

According to the text of the final rule, the effort “stems from TSA’s desire to adapt and foster the rapid pace of mDL innovation, while ensuring compliance with the intentions of the REAL ID Act and regulations.” .

The TSA also said in its regulations that it plans to issue “a subsequent rule that would establish comprehensive requirements for mDLs.”

He noted, however, that the new measure is a necessity in the absence of federal regulation, because states “could find themselves locked into existing solutions and could face a significant burden to redevelop products acceptable to federal agencies in the framework of this future regulation”.

Some lawmakers have already pushed for Congress to take a more active role in developing standards around the use of mDLs and other digital identifiers.

Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., who has been a prominent voice in Congress advocating broader adoption of digital IDs, introduced legislation in September, it would create a task force within the Executive Office of the President to, in part, “improve access and strengthen security between physical and digital credentials.”

The measure was proposed after Foster and Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., introduced another bill in June that would require the TSA to submit a report to lawmakers on its use of digital identities and their potential impact on security. internal security. Their bill passed the House Homeland Security Committee in June, but did not receive a vote in the full House.