Notice2025-20474
TSA Modernized Alternative Identity Verification User Fee
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 20, 2025
Effective
November 20, 2025
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentTransportation Security Administration
Abstract
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is launching a modernized alternative identity verification program for individuals who present at the TSA checkpoint without the required acceptable form of identification (AFOID), such as a REAL ID or passport. This modernized program provides an alternative that may allow these individuals to gain access to the sterile area of an airport if TSA is able to establish their identity. To address the government-incurred costs, individuals who choose to use TSA's modernized alternative identity verification program will be required to pay an $18 fee. Participation in the modernized alternative identity verification program is optional and does not guarantee an individual will be granted access to the sterile area of an airport.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 222 (Thursday, November 20, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 222 (Thursday, November 20, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52427-52428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20474]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Transportation Security Administration
TSA Modernized Alternative Identity Verification User Fee
AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is launching
a modernized alternative identity verification program for individuals
who present at the TSA checkpoint without the required acceptable form
of identification (AFOID), such as a REAL ID or passport. This
modernized program provides an alternative that may allow these
individuals to gain access to the sterile area of an airport if TSA is
able to establish their identity. To address the government-incurred
costs, individuals who choose to use TSA's modernized alternative
identity verification program will be required to pay an $18 fee.
Participation in the modernized alternative identity verification
program is optional and does not guarantee an individual will be
granted access to the sterile area of an airport.
DATES: This notice is effective November 20, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: ORCA Comms, TSA/RCA, Identity
Management, Transportation Security Administration, 6595 Springfield
Center Drive, Springfield, VA 20598-6047; 866-289-9673; or email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#266974656765494b4b53484f4547524f4948556652554708424e5508414950"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8dc2dfcecccee2e0e0f8e3e4eeecf9e4e2e3fecdf9feeca3e9e5fea3eae2fb">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: You can find an electronic copy of this
Notice using the internet by accessing the Government Publishing
Office's web page at <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/FR">https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/FR</a> to view
the daily published Federal Register edition or accessing the Office of
the Federal Register's web page at <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov">https://www.federalregister.gov</a>.
Copies are also available by writing or contacting the individual in
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section, or by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#08475a4b494b6765657d66616b697c6167667b487c7b69266c607b266f677e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a7e8f5e4e6e4c8cacad2c9cec4c6d3cec8c9d4e7d3d4c689c3cfd489c0c8d1">[email protected]</span></a>.
Abbreviations and Terms Used in This Document
AFOID--Acceptable Form of Identification
TDC--Travel Document Checker
TSA--Transportation Security Administration
I. Background
A. Current TSA Identity Verification
The TSA Administrator has broad statutory authority under the
Aviation and Transportation Security Act to carry out security-related
responsibilities in all modes of transportation, including civil
aviation.\1\ Among other duties and powers, the Administrator is
responsible for federal security screening operations of passenger air
transportation and intrastate air transportation.\2\ Identity
verification is the first step in the physical screening process at a
TSA security checkpoint and the last link in intelligence-based
traveler prescreening, ensuring that high-risk travelers are
identified, and all individuals are directed to the appropriate level
of physical screening designated by Secure Flight, TSA's passenger
prescreening program.
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\1\ Public Law 107-71, sec. 101 (115 Stat. 597 (Nov. 19, 2001))
(codified at 49 U.S.C. 114(d)).
\2\ 49 U.S.C. 114(e)(1).
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TSA's primary method of identity verification is matching the
information on an individual's travel documentation with a TSA AFOID
\3\ that the individual presents at the checkpoint. TSA expects
individuals to present a TSA AFOID at the Travel Document Checker
(TDC). For individuals who do not present an AFOID, TSA may provide the
individual with an opportunity to participate in an alternative
identification process to access the sterile area of the airport.\4\
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\3\ TSA provides a list of acceptable IDs on its website
(<a href="https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification">https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification</a>).
\4\ The most common alternative identity verification service
previously provided for individuals without an AFOID was
establishing identity through the National Transportation Vetting
Center, a TSA call-center that conducted knowledge-based identity
verification. As part of the modernized alternative identity
verification program, TSA is replacing this call-center with an
automated, technology-supported service that's costs will be
included in a fee borne by individuals benefiting from the service.
Consistent with the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-4,
``Regulatory Analysis,'' this Fee Notice involves a transfer payment
from one group (taxpayers paying for an individual's identity
verification services provided by TSA) to another group (the
beneficiary individual). Although it is difficult to precisely
monetize and quantify social costs and benefits resulting from this
transfer, the qualitative cost and benefit would be transferring the
burden of identity verification for individuals without acceptable
ID from taxpayers to the individuals seeking entry into the sterile
area.
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Use of TSA's alternative identity verification processes neither
guarantees that an individual's identity will be verified nor that the
individual will successfully be provided access to the sterile area of
the airport. Individuals who verify their identity using TSA's
alternative identity verification process also may be subject to
additional screening or experience delays. Those individuals who do not
have an AFOID and who choose not to use alternative identity
verification or cooperate with the identity verification process will
not be allowed to enter the sterile area of the airport. The current
alternative identity verification process is time and resource
intensive, limiting the number of individuals for whom TSA can provide
the service.
B. Modernized Alternative Identity Verification
TSA is replacing the prior alternative identity verification
process with a modernized alternative identity verification program
that offers technology-enabled alternative for individuals who do not
have an AFOID available to present at the TDC. If an individual chooses
to use the program and submit the required information, TSA will use
the individual's biographic and/or biometric information to verify
identity and match the individual to their Secure Flight watch list
result. TSA anticipates that this modernized program will increase
efficiency for each individual by streamlining steps taken to verify an
individual's identity and substantially increase the number of
individuals for whom TSA can provide alternative identity verification
by leveraging technology to significantly expand program capacity.
Similar to the current process, this modernized alternative
identity verification program does not guarantee that an individual's
identity will be verified or that the individual will be provided
access to the sterile area of the airport. Individuals who verify their
identity using the modernized alternative identity verification program
may still be subject to additional screening or experience delays.
Individuals who do not have an AFOID and who choose not to use the
alternative identity verification program or cooperate with TSA's
identity verification process will not be allowed to enter the sterile
area of the airport. This modernized, technology-enabled program will
provide additional methods of alternative identity verification beyond
what TSA currently provides and reduce the time required to verify
identities using the existing methods.
II. Authority To Collect Fee for Use of Alternative Identity
Verification Program
Congress directed TSA to collect a non-refundable fee to cover the
costs of
[[Page 52428]]
any registered traveler program.\5\ This provision requires TSA to
``impose a fee for any registered traveler program undertaken by the
Department of Homeland Security by notice in the Federal Register'' as
long as the fees do not ``exceed the aggregate costs associated with
the program.'' \6\ TSA may also modify the fee through notice published
in the Federal Register.\7\
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\5\ See Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act,
2006, Public Law 109-90, sec. 540, (119 Stat. 2064, 2088-89 (Oct.
18, 2005)) (codified at 49 U.S.C. 114 note).
\6\ Id.
\7\ Id.
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TSA has determined that the modernized alternative identity
verification program, where travelers seeking access to the sterile
area of an airport register for the purpose of attempting alternative
identity verification when they do not present an AFOID, and where the
reliability of the alternative means used to establish identity allow
TSA to set required screening based on reliability of those means, is a
registered traveler program. Therefore, TSA must collect fees from
individuals who do not present an AFOID at the security checkpoint, and
who use TSA's modernized alternative identity verification program.\8\
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\8\ See supra n.4.
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Consistent with the statutory mandate, TSA is establishing a fee
for users of the modernized alternative identity verification program
to recover TSA's costs of providing this unique security service. The
fee described in this notice is designed to fully recover TSA's costs
of providing the modernized alternative identity verification program--
including the initial development and deployment of the program--to
individuals who choose to participate. The cost of the modernized
program includes information technology infrastructure and services,
software development, identity verification and validation, mobile
computing costs, data infrastructure, integration, security and
compliance, program management, as well as customer service and
administrative costs. Requiring a fee for the modernized alternative
identity verification program will ensure that the cost to administer
this program is recovered from the users who benefit from it.
TSA will impose and collect a non-refundable fee of $18.00 per
person at the time an individual registers and requests alternative
identity verification using TSA-approved payment methods, which may
include collection by third parties. TSA will not refund the fee, in
whole or in part, to individuals whose identities are not verified or
who are unable to enter the sterile area based upon the results of the
identity verification process.
TSA anticipates that some individuals may use the program and pay
the corresponding fee more than once. In addition, TSA may decide in
certain scenarios to limit the number of times an individual may use
the program if he or she repeatedly fails to present an AFOID when
attempting to enter the sterile area.
III. Methodology To Calculate Fee
When setting fees for services, TSA adheres to Federal policy,
including policy outlined in the Office of Management and Budget
Circular A-25, dated July 8, 1993, regarding user charges. In summary,
the circular provides information regarding the basis upon which user
charges are to be established and implemented.
TSA has compiled a fee development report that provides a detailed
discussion of the modernized alternative identity verification
program's expected costs, expected population, and fee determination. A
copy of the fee development report can be accessed at <a href="http://TSA.gov">TSA.gov</a>.
IV. Fee Announcement
The fee to use the modernized alternative identity verification
program is $18.00 per individual, per 10-day use (provided the
individual can successfully verify their identity for each use during
the 10-day period), for the purpose of TSA using modernized alternative
identity verification methods to verify a person's identity so he/she
can be granted access to the sterile area of an airport. In addition to
this notice, TSA will publish these fees on the TSA website <a href="http://TSA.gov">TSA.gov</a>.
TSA may update this fee and availability of the program in the future
through publication of a notice in the Federal Register.
Collection of the fee will begin when TSA announces that
individuals may register for the modernized alternative identity
verification program on the TSA website <a href="http://TSA.gov">TSA.gov</a>.
Dated: November 18, 2025
Ha Nguyen McNeill,
Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator,
Transportation Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 2025-20474 Filed 11-19-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-05-P
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