Flying without a Real ID? Well, it’ll cost ya.

The Transportation Security Administration will begin charging a $45 fee to air travelers who do not present a Real ID at TSA checkpoints as of Feb 1. The charge will cover an additional identity verification process that will also cost travelers more time at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall and all airports nationwide.

Known as ConfirmID, the process will require travelers to answer a series of questions to confirm their identity. Those travelers with a valid passport, Real ID-compliant driver’s license or other acceptable Real ID identification will not have to pay the fee or pass through the new process.

TSA wants to ensure “the identify of a passenger that comes to our checkpoint is who they say they are,” said Chris Murgia, TSA’s federal security director for Maryland. “It’s critical and crucial for us to make sure their ID is valid.”

Here’s how it will work:

• TSA agents will provide any traveler without a Real ID-compliant identification a QR code they can scan with a smartphone or tablet that will direct them to a form on www.pay.gov. Travelers can also fill out this form and pay the fee before arriving at the airport.
• The traveler will go back through the security line (nope, you don’t get to cut back to the front) and present a receipt or proof of payment of the $45 fee.
• A TSA agent will pull the traveler aside to run their identification through ConfirmID and then ask the person a series of questions.
• The traveler will then proceed through TSA’s regular baggage and security checks. The entire process could take as long as 30 minutes.

Verification through ConfirmID is valid for 10 days, meaning it won’t cover the return trip for a traveler who is gone longer than that. In that case, the person will be subject to the fee and ConfirmID process again.

It will be available at all security checkpoints at BWI Airport, Murgia said, though Checkpoint B will have its own dedicated area for ConfirmID screenings.

The Real ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, mandated minimum national standards for all state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards, a recommendation of a commission report on the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A final compliance deadline was pushed back several times until President Donald Trump’s administration set it for last May.

Nationally, about 94% of the traveling public has a Real ID-compliant identification. Maryland, which started issuing the IDs more than a decade ago, has a higher compliance rate, according to the Motor Vehicle Administration. The MVA has an online tool that Marylanders can use to see if their driver’s license or identification card is good go to.

For international travelers, a valid passport is sufficient. For noncitizens living in the United States, their employment authorization card or permanent residency card (aka a “green card”) is Real ID compliant.