Nationwide Outage Knocks Out Passport Verification

A nationwide outage caused passport verification to be unavailable on Wednesday afternoon.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias posted about the outage on social media on Wednesday morning, urging residents to call before visiting the Department of Motor Vehicles for passport verification.

The U.S. Passport Verification Service allows driver’s license agencies to verify data against the Department of Homeland Security’s system.

Why It Matters

State DMVs have been flooded with visitors as many Americans look to get a REAL ID since it became mandatory at airports earlier this month. Passports are also a valid form of identification, so the delay in passport verification services could potentially affect soon-to-be travelers.

What To Know

The nationwide outage occurred Wednesday morning, but it is unclear where it stands this afternoon. The Illinois Secretary of State’s office said DMVs are operating as usual despite the outage for passport verification.

“We activated a process that we put in place to enable us to process U.S. passports and immigration documents from other countries at our DMV facilities. We are not experiencing any delays at our DMVs as a result,” the office told CBS Chicago.

“We are actively working with our DHS partners to provide an update to states so service can be restored as soon as possible,” the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) told The Hill, saying the issue should be resolved by the afternoon.

Newsweek reached out to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators for comment via email.

What People Are Saying

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias posted on X Wednesday: “Due to a nationwide outage, U.S. passport verification is currently unavailable. We are actively monitoring the situation and will provide updates as they become available. Please call 800-252-8980 before visiting our DMVs as services or hours may be impacted.”

A TSA spokesperson previously told Newsweek: “TSA has no concerns [about security wait times on and beyond May 7. State Department of Motor Vehicles have done a great job of preparing their residents for REAL ID implementation on May 7.”

What Happens Next

As the REAL ID requirements go into effect this month, an increasing number of Americans will likely need to set up an appointment with their local DMV for a REAL ID license or passport.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) previously said that over 80 percent of air travelers already present REAL ID-compliant identification. Those without a REAL ID or passport could face long security delays or potentially not board planes at all.