Illinois REAL ID

The pandemic caused all sorts of things to be delayed, and the switch over to REAL ID is certainly one of those things. The deadline kept getting pushed back, and now you have until May of 2025 to decide whether or not REAL ID is something you need and/or want.

Illinois State officials (knowing how people can be when it comes to deadlines) are urging Illinois residents to get busy now so that there won't be a giant logjam of Real ID applications this coming May.

State officials (knowing how people can be when it comes to deadlines) are urging Illinois residents to get busy now so that there won't be a giant logjam of applications in May of next year.

If you recall, the original, pre-pandemic deadline for the move to REAL ID was October 21, 2020. Then, COVID-19 came along and threw a monkey-wrench into things. So, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pushed things back one year to October 21, 2021 to give people time to get things together while dealing with the pandemic.