As deadline looms, Minnesota’s REAL ID compliance rate trails neighboring states

Name: Minnesota’s REAL ID compliance rate trails neighboring states
Uploaded: 2025-04-04T17:40:53-05:00
Description: As the long-delayed enforcement deadline approaches, fewer than half of Minnesotans have a REAL ID, which will be required to fly and enter federal buildings.

Minnesota’s REAL ID compliance rate trails neighboring states

As the long-delayed enforcement deadline approaches, fewer than half of Minnesotans have a REAL ID, which will be required to fly and enter federal buildings.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - As the long-delayed enforcement deadline approaches, fewer than half of Minnesotans have a REAL ID, which will be required to fly and enter federal buildings.

Most Minnesotans don’t have a REAL ID

The backstory:

Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 as a response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The law sets minimum security standards for state IDs. While the initial deadline was in 2008, the government delayed enforcement multiple times as states prepared for the rollout. Minnesota started offering REAL IDs in October 2018.

By the numbers:

Only 40 percent of Minnesotans have a REAL ID, a compliance rate which falls behind neighboring states. In both Wisconsin and North Dakota, 63 percent of people have one. In Iowa, 75 percent of IDs are compliant. South Dakota leads the region, with a 99 percent compliance rate.

If you don’t already have a REAL ID, you likely won’t have one by the deadline

How long to get REAL ID:

It takes an average of 42 days, or about a month and a half, to receive a REAL ID, according to Driver and Vehicle Services. That means anyone who has not already applied for one almost certainly will not have one by the deadline.

What they're saying:

"I guess it was just more of like an oversight on my part that I just hadn’t had it – gotten it renewed...." said Melissa Schoeppner of Le Sueur. "I was able to check the status online yesterday and it said it was still in review, so five weeks later and here we are, so oh well."

Others tried to apply for one after relocating but had no luck.

"I had it here in Minnesota, and then when I moved to Montana I didn’t have the right identification with me because I was in the middle of a move," explained Stephanie Schmitt.

REAL ID application requires several documents

What's required:

In addition to a document that proves your identity, such as a birth certificate or a passport, you will also need two documents that prove your Minnesota residency, such as a utility bill or a credit card statement. You will also need to know your Social Security number, though you will not need your card.

If you don't have REAL ID:

If you do not have a REAL ID by the deadline, you will be able to use a passport in its place.