DoD officials plan no further extensions for expired identification cards, according to a recent DoD News report, and those attempting to renew their IDs in the coming months will have plenty of company.

The expiration dates printed on ID cards held by more than half a million cardholders already have passed, the report states, although that doesn’t mean all those cards are expired. Cards with expiration dates between Jan. 1, 2020, and July 31, 2021, remain valid through Oct. 31, 2021, for active duty dependents, as well as Reserve and Guard servicemembers and their dependents; and through Jan. 31, 2022, for retirees, their dependents, and all other Uniformed Services ID (USID) beneficiaries.

Cardholders seeking to make an appointment for renewal can start at DoD’s online ID card office. The latest information on deadlines can be accessed at CAC.mil/coronavirus.

[RELATED AT MOAA.ORG: ID Cards]

Appointments may be harder to come by as the deadlines approach; cardholders who can’t find appointments at their usual location should consider a location with walk-in availability, said Stephen Wellock, of the Defense Manpower Data Center, in the DoD News piece.

Wellock also warned some cardholders may think they’ve received an extension but really haven’t. For those holding cards with an expiration date between July 31, 2021, and today, “You have no extension, your ID card is expired," he said in the report. "You need to get it replaced. … So, if a service member’s dependent is out there, and their ID card expired on Sept. 7, they don't have until October to get it replaced; their ID card has expired, and they need to make an appointment as soon as possible.”

[JUNE 2021: DoD Announces ID Card Extensions for Retirees, Dependents]

Servicemembers should inform their chain of command if they have difficulty securing a renewal appointment, Wellock said.