Your passport might not work in 2025 and it has nothing to do with expiration
If your New Year’s resolution was to travel more, don’t just double-check your passport expiration.Your ID may be rendered useless when flying due to new travel restrictions that will be enacted in 2025.Starting in May, all travelers will be required to use a Real ID — or appropriate alternative, like a passport — in order to take domestic flights or enter some government buildings, according to Gothamist.The implementation of the updated identification requirement has been postponed a number of times due to the pandemic, reported Good Morning America.According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, a Real ID in New York is denoted with a star or flag.A license without one of those symbols is not a Real ID and therefore will not be a valid form of identification at airports.When traveling across the pond, American passengers jet setting to the UK on or after Jan.
8 will be required to register with the Electronic Travel Authorization program in order to be vetted before entering the country.Anyone outside of the UK and Ireland visiting for six months or less and for business or study will be required to apply through the ETA program, which costs about $13 and is valid for two years.“The worldwide expansion of the ETA demonstrates our commitment to enhance security through new technology and embedding a modern immigration system,” Seema Malhotra, the minister for Migration and Citizenship, previously said in a statement.Similarly, travelers will be required to apply for entry to Europe through the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), which will go into effect in May after multiple postponements.While it costs just over $7 to apply, it could take days to weeks to receive a response, so plan accordingly.The ETIAS application requires personal information such as name, birthday, contact info, education level, details of your travel and more.
Travelers will also be required to have a valid travel document, such as a p...