Not only this, Things are very confusing for people. During checking at my last flight I asked the officer about if Ohio ID would be sufficient for the real ID requirement. She couldn't answer because she didn't know how they issue it these days. If this a TSA officer, what about ordinary people?
I think this is one of those cases where you didn't ask the right question. The TSA officer of course doesn't know the ID issue policies of 50+ ID-issuing regions.
If you had asked "How do I know if my ID meets the Real ID requirements", the answer is very simple: "It has an image of a star on the top of the ID".
> the answer is very simple: "It has an image of a star on the top of the ID".
Or an American Flag somewhere on the ID (mine is randomly next to my photo), for the few states that only issue Real ID-compatible IDs in the form of EDL/EIDs. Looking at you, Washington.
And the star can be:
> gold or black star, a white star in a gold or black circle, a white star in a gold bear in the case of California, or a white star in a gold state map in the case of Maine.
It's so absurdly complicated. As someone else said it'd be fantastic parody if it weren't real life.
NY also has that 'American Flag' for an 'enhanced' ID. FYI, the 'enhanced' is only valid for land or sea crossings into canada/mexico/some caribbean destionations (you can't fly into those countries).
You have to go to the DMV for 'real id or enhanced' so I won't be getting one anytime soon until they force it on me. I have a passport for travel anyway.
I believe the US flag is common to all EDLs, that's their version of the gold star.
What I meant by that statement is that Washington, unlike New York, only has EDLs available as a Real ID-compliant option. There are two options: "Unreal" DL or EDL. So there is no gold star at all for some states, they just have the US flag to denote something compatible with Real ID.
>I think this is one of those cases where you didn't ask the right question. The TSA officer of course doesn't know the ID issue policies of 50+ ID-issuing regions.
I thought that because it was a (main) Ohio airport, this will be an appropriate question but probably you are right.
>If you had asked "How do I know if my ID meets the Real ID requirements", the answer is very simple: "It has an image of a star on the top of the ID".
I was asking this question so that I can decide if it is worth getting one because I don't want to keep using my passport on domestic flights (risking it getting lost, and heache to have a replacement outside my home country).
They aren't really officers. They can not arrest nor detain, they don't carry a duty firearm, and they don't swear an oath to uphold Constitution. They play word games.
