How to Fill Out the West Point Visitor Pass Form: ID and Submission

To visit the United States Military Academy at West Point, you complete the AIE Credential Request Form — sometimes called the local area credential request form — and bring it, along with acceptable identification, to the Visitor Control Center at 2107 New South Post Road, Highland Falls, NY 10928, where staff run an on-the-spot background check and issue your credential.¹ The West Point visitor pass form itself is short, but the ID you carry when you hand it in decides whether you leave with a year-long pass or a seven-day one.

Where To Get the Form

You have two options. Pick up a blank form in person at the Visitor Control Center (VCC), or download and print it ahead of time from the West Point MWR website.² Printing it at home saves time at the window, especially during busy weekends or cadet events.

Holders of a DoD Common Access Card or a retired military ID do not need the form at all and can drive through any open gate directly.³

How To Fill It Out

Print or type every field. Handwriting that the clerk has to squint at is the easiest way to slow yourself down at the counter.

The form collects the personal data the Army needs to run your name through the FBI’s National Crime Information Center Interstate Identification Index (NCIC-III), which is the baseline background screening for any visitor without a DoD ID card.⁴ Expect fields for your full legal name, date of birth, and citizenship status.

Match your physical ID exactly. If your license reads “Robert” and you write “Bob” on the form, the mismatch flags the application and costs you time. Middle initials, name suffixes, and hyphenated last names all need to appear the same way in both places.

The signature at the bottom is a legal attestation that everything you wrote is accurate. Providing false information on a federal government document can carry fines or up to five years in prison under 18 U.S.C. § 1001.⁵

What ID To Bring With the Form

Since May 7, 2025, every Department of Defense installation enforces the REAL ID Act. A standard driver’s license marked “Not for Federal Purposes” will not get you through the gate on its own.⁶ A REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or enhanced driver’s license — look for the star or the word “Enhanced” — covers you by itself.

If your license is not compliant, bring one of these federally accepted alternatives instead:

U.S. passport or passport card
DoD Common Access Card (CAC) or retired military ID
Permanent resident card (Green Card)
Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL)

Without a REAL ID-compliant license or one of those alternatives, West Point will only issue a seven-day pass, and you will need to present another form of U.S. identification such as a passport, Social Security card, or birth certificate.³ All identification must be original. Photocopies are not accepted.

Turning the Form In

West Point handles visitor requests in person, not by email. Bring the completed form and your ID to the VCC at 2107 New South Post Road.¹ The NCIC-III check runs on the spot rather than over several days.⁷

The VCC is open 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., seven days a week, and closed on federal holidays.⁸ If you arrive after hours, take the form to Stony Lonesome Gate at 1 Stony Lonesome Road, Highland Falls, where security can run the check and issue a temporary pass.⁹

If the background check turns up a disqualifying record, such as an active warrant, your request will be denied. Only government personnel designated by the senior commander are authorized to make fitness determinations.¹⁰ Once cleared, you get a physical credential with an expiration date. Keep it visible while on post; security patrols check for it.

What Pass You’ll Receive

The credential you walk away with depends on who you are and what ID you brought with the form.

Standard visitor pass, issued to visitors with REAL ID-compliant identification. Under Army regulation, local access credentials can be issued for up to one year or until the supporting documents expire.¹⁰
Seven-day pass, if you lack REAL ID-compliant identification but present another acceptable form of U.S. ID.³
Four-year Local Area Credential, available to parents of cadets who bring their cadet’s official letter of admission.³
Year-long pass for contractors and delivery drivers, requiring REAL ID-compliant identification.³

Situations the Form Doesn’t Cover on Its Own

Visitors Under 18

Children and teenagers under 18 do not need identification and do not fill out the form, but they must be accompanied by an adult who has a valid credential or pass.³ The NCIC-III screening under Army regulation applies to non-DoD-affiliated visitors 18 and older.¹⁰

Foreign Nationals

Foreign visitors cannot receive unescorted access to West Point. Filling out the form does not change that. They must be accompanied at all times by a qualified escort while on the installation. Call the VCC at (315) 774-9235 before your trip to arrange escort logistics.¹

Organized Group Tours

Groups do not submit individual forms. The group leader submits a manifest sheet listing every attendee’s name, date of birth, gender, and the type of ID each person will carry. Everyone in the group must check in at the VCC at least 15 minutes before the scheduled tour. Adults 18 and over present a government-issued photo ID; students aged 17–18 can use a high school photo ID.¹¹ Show up without the completed manifest or proper ID and the group can be turned away and forfeit the reservation cost.

Veterans With a VHIC

Veterans enrolled in VA health care who hold a Veterans Health Identification Card can use it for installation access in place of the standard visitor process, but only if the card displays a specific eligibility status: Purple Heart, Former POW, or Service Connected. Medal of Honor recipients and veterans with a 100% service-connected disability rating are eligible for DoD credentials under separate policy.¹²

1
U.S. Army Garrison West Point. Visitor Information
2
West Point MWR. Visitor Control Center (VCC)
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U.S. Military Academy West Point. Gateway for Visitors
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U.S. Army Fort Buchanan. About Background Checks
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally
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Air Combat Command. REAL ID Compliance for Federal Installations
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U.S. Military Academy West Point. West Point Changes Unescorted Visitor Requirements
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U.S. Military Academy West Point. West Point Visitors Center
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U.S. Army Garrison West Point. Gate Information and Access Control
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U.S. Army. AR 190-13 – The Army Physical Security Program
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West Point Tours. FAQs
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VA News. Veterans Need VHIC for In-Person Commissary, Military Exchange, MWR Access