NJ residents must obtain Real IDs by May 2025. What you need to know

Katie Sobko, NorthJersey.com
·2 min read

With just under a year until the Real ID requirement goes into effect, the clock is ticking for New Jersey residents still interested in updating their license and identification.

The federal government is expected to start enforcing REAL ID on May 7, 2025. At that time, people will need either a Real ID or passport to fly domestically and enter certain federal facilities.

How do NJ residents get a Real ID?

Real ID is marked with a star in the top right corner. Anyone interested in obtaining either a Real ID driver’s license or non-driver identification for the first time will need to make an appointment at a Motor Vehicle Commission licensing center.

According to the MVC, those are available in many cases as next-day and even some same-day appointments. They have the capacity to handle more than 3,000 appointments each day.

A New Jersey driver holds a Real ID card.
A New Jersey driver holds a Real ID card.

The appointments are broken down into two groups, license renewal appointment for those with licenses expiring within three months or Real ID non-renewal appointment for those with licenses expiring beyond that window.

There are also mobile units with the capacity to provide Real ID in coordination with local officials and civic groups, but appointments are needed in for those as well.

Appointments can be scheduled at the MVC website. The agency will expand promotion of the program this summer in partnership with the TSA at airports.

The agency is urging those interested in the program to make sure they upgrade in a timely fashion to avoid a potential last-minute crunch and notes that the “renewal period — the three months before the expiration date on a license — remains the best time” to get a Real ID.

Expiring Real ID can be renewed online.

Customers should visit REALID.nj.gov to learn more and to identify the documents they will need to bring to their appointment to get a Real ID.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Real IDs must be obtained by May 2025