Identification Requirements for Guests and Visitors

Are you REAL ID ready?

On May 7, 2025, U.S. travelers must be REAL ID compliant to board domestic flights and access certain federal facilities including Brookhaven National Laboratory. See full details about REAL ID and find out if you're REAL ID-ready with this online interactive tool.

Remote Users

Remote users located inside the USA will need to provide copies of identification documents upon request. Refer to your citizenship category below for specific ID requirements.

Remote users located outside the USA are required to provide either a copy of their passport or another form of government photo ID.

U.S. Citizens

REAL ID Requirements to Take Effect May 7, 2025

Starting May 7, Brookhaven National Laboratory will enforce new identification requirements for site access in alignment with the federal REAL ID Act of 2005. REAL ID is a federal law that sets standards for identification used to board commercial aircraft, access federal facilities, and enter nuclear power plants. Brookhaven Lab must now comply with these standards. Learn more about REAL ID

Starting May 7, all visitors, users, guests, and contractors requesting access to the Lab site must provide an active REAL ID-compliant identification document to either the Laboratory Protection Division or the Guest User Visitor Center. There is an exception for US citizens under 18 years of age; please see U.S. Citizen Minors below.

A REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or ID card features a star in the upper right corner. An Enhanced Driver’s License features an American flag in the lower right corner and is also REAL ID-compliant.

Those who do not have a REAL ID-compliant driver license can also use:

• Enhanced Driver’s License
• U.S. Passport
• U.S. Passport Card
• Foreign government-issued passport
• DHS Trusted Traveler Card (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
• U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
• U.S. Military Card
• Permanent Resident Card
• HSPD-12 PIV Card
• Driver’s License issued by the US Department of State
• Border Crossing Card (Form DSP-150)
• US Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
• Federally recognized, tribal-issued photo ID
• U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
• Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)
• Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card

If you have questions about the REAL ID requirement, please contact SecurityBadges@bnl.gov.

For our foreign national guests and visitors who previously had an appointment with us and are now naturalized US citizens, congratulations! Please bring your certificate of naturalization or updated passport so we can update your record.

U.S. Citizen Minors

U.S. citizen minors (under age 18 years of age) may be limited in what they can present. The U.S. citizen minor must appear in person and provide proper identity. If the U.S. citizen minor is unable to present a valid U.S. passport or REAL ID - then the two forms a U.S. citizen minor should present are:

• Original or certified copy of a birth certificate issued by a state, county, municipal authority, or outlying possession of the United States bearing an official seal;
• And their Student ID card with a photograph

Lawful Permanent Residents of the United States

Lawful permanent residents of the United States (US) must bring their US Green Card (the US Green Card or the I-551 stamp must be valid for the duration of the visit) AND a REAL ID driver’s license with them upon their initial check-in at BNL and each time their visa status changes thereafter or a new BNL ID badge is issued. If you currently do not hold a US Green Card, you may bring your original passport with the I-551 stamp as identification until your US Green Card is issued. Please note that the passport must be valid for the duration of your access.

U.S. Sponsored Visa Holders

Non-U.S. citizens, who have not been granted a U.S. green card or permanent residency, must bring their valid original passport that is valid for the duration of the visit or assignment (with I-94 record. I-94 record may be one of the following: I-94 card, US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) admission stamp in passport, CBP I-94 website printout or I-797A version of I-94 issued by USCIS after admission to US. the I-94 must be valid for the duration of the visit or appointment or marked as D/S (duration of status)) and applicable visa with any USCIS visa stamp in passport supporting the visa status and/or renewals (USCIS documentation may be: for H: I-797 Approval Notice; For F: I-20; For F/OPT: I-20 with OPT authorization and EAD; for J: DS-2019) to Brookhaven upon their initial check-in and each time their visa status changes thereafter or a new BNL ID badge is issued. Individuals with employment authorization cards must also bring their card with them upon their initial check-in at BNL. Pending H/STEM must have approved I-797 form. Must have valid I-94 record or EAD for the duration of the visit or assignment. Foreign nationals with the following visa classifications are not eligible to hold a BNL appointment, and therefore not eligible to work at BNL: J2 (without EAD), F2 or H4.

Recap - Please bring with you, depending on your visa type:

Visa Waiver Program (VWP) Participants

For entry onto BNL property, you must present your original and unexpired machine-readable passport containing a valid CBP admission stamp showing a WB (Visa Waiver for Business) and NOT a WT (Visa Waiver for Tourism).

IMPORTANT: Guests with WT admission stamp on their passport WILL NOT be given a BNL ID badge and MUST return to the airport/port of entry to ask for correction of the admission stamp in their passport.

Effective January 9, 2009, foreign travelers coming into the U.S. under the visa waiver program must "pre-authorize" themselves online through the "Electronic System for Travel Authorization" (ESTA). It is recommended that travelers log into ESTA as far in advance of their travel as possible, but no less than 72 hours before departure.

B-1 Visitors

For entry onto BNL property, you must present your original and unexpired machine-readable passport containing a CBP admission stamp showing a B1 (Business) and NOT a B2 (Tourism).

IMPORTANT: Guests with B2 admission stamp on their passport WILL NOT be given a BNL ID badge and MUST return to the airport/port of entry to ask for correction of the admission stamp in their passport.

Foreign nationals with the following visa classifications are not eligible to hold a BNL appointment; and, therefore, not eligible to work at BNL: WT or B2.

Individuals with a People's Republic of China issued passport bearing a 10-year B1/B2, B1 or B2 (visitor) visa will be required to have a valid Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS) enrollment when traveling to the United States beginning November 29, 2016. EVUS is the online system used by nationals of the People's Republic of China to facilitate their travel to the United States and are valid for two years or until the traveler obtains a new passport or visa, whichever comes first.
 

* Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) establishes document requirements for travel by land or sea into the United States from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean and Bermuda. SENTRI cards are for entry into the United States from Mexico and NEXUS cards are for entry into the United States from Canada. The Free and Secure Trade (FAST) cards are available to commercial drivers crossing both the northern and southern borders into the United States.

Further Instructions

Instructions on identification requirements for subsequent visits to BNL will be provided upon check-in. This documentation is required for issuance of appointments and any subsequent appointment renewals. A Brookhaven photo ID card cannot be issued without the appropriate identification.

Instructions for Returning ID Badge