CLEVELAND — The Real ID deadline has been extended several times, but not anymore.

Wednesday, it will go into effect for Ohioans across the state and millions across the country.

“It indicates when you have that star on your driver’s license that you’ve taken a couple extra steps, essentially to verify your identity,” said Jim Garrity AAA, Director of Public Affairs East Central.

After a 20-year delay, the deadline for the Real ID or a driver’s license that’s acceptable is here.

“Which means that for travelers on May 7th, they should expect that real id enforcement is going to go into effect,” said Garrity.

On that date, and moving forward, the Transportation Security Administration TSA and Department of Homeland Security DHS may only accept driver’s licenses with the star on it, or other Real ID compliant IDs, to pass through airport security and to enter some federal buildings.

“After 9/11, the certifications were announced, and states were given a certain amount of time to implement it locally,” said Garrity.

Garrity said this is a huge change for travelers.

“This is going to be big for people who travel regularly,” said Garrity. “It’s going to be big for people who take vacations or have vacations booked and they not have their real id.”

The Cleveland Hopkins International Airport has, on average, 33,000 daily fliers. Some travelers said they have their Real ID compliant driver’s licenses while others said they were using other approved IDs.

“A passport, which goes through the same process of documentation, is a Real ID compliant identification,” said Garrity. “When people hear Real ID, it’s not a specific card that you would have. Real ID is a level of compliance.”

Without a Real ID, travelers could have extra screening and could be turned away, ultimately missing their flight.

The deadline had Ohioans rushing to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles to get their driver’s licenses switched over.

“We have certainly, over the past three weeks, seen those numbers sort of starting to inch up, little by little,” said Charlie Norman the State Registrar for Ohio BMV.

Norman said close to 57% of Ohioans already have the star on their driver’s licenses. He said the rush is because many people think they can’t get the star after the deadline.

“It’s not a deadline to get it. You have time, I think that’s better, and really, if it were me, if I didn’t have immediate travel plans, I would not be rushing into the BMV now,” Norman said. “I’d wait until after the May 7th date.”

To switch over to get a star on your license for the first time, an in-person visit is required. Garrity suggests avoiding the rush if your travel plans are not immediate.

“You don’t have a trip in the next month or two, that should give you a little bit of breathing room, but it’s definitely not something to rely on, because if you’re going to need that real id, you got to take it seriously,” said Garrity.

If you do need to travel and your driver’s license doesn’t have the star, TSA will accept your passport, a permanent resident card or several other forms of approved Real ID.

Approved forms of Real ID include:

• State-issued Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) or Enhanced ID (EID)
• U.S. passport
• U.S. passport card
• DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
• U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
• Permanent resident card
• Border crossing card
• An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs)
• HSPD-12 PIV card
• Foreign government-issued passport
• Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
• Transportation worker identification credential
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
• U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
• Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)

To get more information on getting a Real ID approved driver’s license from the Ohio BMV click here.