DMV joins forces with TSA, LAX to help travelers prepare for REAL ID application

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Are you REAL ID ready?

The DMV, TSA and LAX are joining forces to prepare people for new federal identity requirements to board domestic flights.

They held a news conference Thursday morning ahead of the big change coming Oct. 1.

Even though the deadline is several months away, officials want Californians to not wait to apply because at least some of them will need the REAL ID to travel by air domestically.

Start Oct. 1 travelers will no longer be able to use their older California driver's license to board an aircraft. Instead, they will need a REAL-ID compliant driver's license.

But there are also other forms of identification that are acceptable for travel. Those include U.S. passports or military identification. Other forms of acceptable identification for travel are listed here.

The DMV said it is working on streamlining the process to obtain a REAL ID so that applicants don't have to wait in line too long.

DMV officials said those applying should go online to fill out the application, then gather documentation proving their identity.

People across California are standing in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles to check an important item off their 2020 to-do list.

Documentation could be a passport or a birth certificate or other document. It will also require two documents proving residency, such as a utility bill, a tax bill, or something similar. The documents have to be from different sources, according to Steve Gordon, director of the DMV.

The REAL ID will cost about $37.

For more information, visit the DMV website.