Free TSA PreCheck for Qualifying Disabled Veterans
The Transportation Security Administration now provides free TSA PreCheck expedited screening to eligible disabled veterans under the VETS Safe Travel Act. Eligible travelers must complete a validation process to receive a fee waiver code before submitting their application.
Free TSA PreCheck for Qualifying Disabled Veterans
TSA PreCheck is an expedited security screening option at hundreds of domestic airports. Members of the TSA PreCheck program are not required to remove shoes, belts, or jackets. They are allowed to bring food through security and have other options that those who go through standard security screenings don’t have.
As a disabled veteran, you may qualify for free TSA PreCheck, but there are rules.
You must be actively enrolled in the healthcare system of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and have a service-connected disability that resulted in one of the following specific conditions:
- Permanent blindness
- Full or partial paralysis
- The loss or permanent loss of use of an extremity
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Qualifying for TSA PreCheck
To qualify, the disability must require the regular use of a wheelchair, prosthetic limb, or other mobility aid. Active-duty military personnel continue to receive free screening automatically through their Department of Defense identification numbers, but retired and separated veterans must apply using this process.
The veteran must log in to the official veterans benefits website to download their specific document, titled “TSA PreCheck Application Fee Waiver Letter. The applicant must email this digital letter directly to the authorized enrollment provider, IDEMIA. The email must be sent to:
tsaenrollmentbyidemia@ps-idemia.com.
The federal program requires that your email use the subject line “VETS Safe”.
Verification
Once the documentation is verified, the veteran gets a unique promotional code via email to enter during the standard online TSA PreCheck enrollment or renewal application process. The code waives the standard processing fee at the payment stage.
Travelers should know that receiving a promotional code does not guarantee enrollment in the program. The waiver code eliminates the application fee, but you must still meet standard vetting requirements.
The Transportation Security Administration handles all background checks and is the final authority over approvals. Applicants can be disqualified based on criminal history or other issues.
The availability of the fee waiver depends on funding levels for each year. If the funding pool is exhausted during a given fiscal year, the distribution of promotional codes may be reduced or stopped until the next fiscal year begins.
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About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
