Photo ID (not passport or driving licence) 12 February at 5:11PM in Pensions, annuities & retirement planning 14 replies 953 views

Sprout0808

My father in law may is no longer able to drive so doesn't have a driving licence and no longer has a passport. If he needs any photo id for any formal reason, what are his options? Will he have to get a passport? 

p00hsticks

Sprout0808 said:

My father in law may is no longer able to drive so doesn't have a driving licence and no longer has a passport. If he needs any photo id for any formal reason, what are his options? Will he have to get a passport? 

In my experience, yes. The only other option I've found is a bus pass, but it;s not widely accepted.

I've recently encouraged my father to renew his passport in anticipation of when he's going to have to hand in his driving licence, even though he'll never use it to travel.

In my view, it's a small price to pay to avoid a lot of struggles when trying to prove ID.

TadleyBaggie

There are many alternatives, see this page regarding ID now required to vote:

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voter-id/accepted-forms-photo-id

k_man

Sprout0808 said:

My father in law may is no longer able to drive so doesn't have a driving licence and no longer has a passport. If he needs any photo id for any formal reason, what are his options? Will he have to get a passport? 

Depends on the specific formal reason, but valid passports are universally accepted as photo ID.
e.g. many banks (especially app or online based) require either passport or driving licence.

Shame this is just after the passport price increase.

squirrelpie

As TadleyBaggie says, there are many alternatives for local voting but for any other purpose the options may be more limited. A passport should be safe but there should also always be some alternative.

westv

I never understand why a passport for ID purposes has to be up to date if you look similar to the photo.

p00hsticks

westv said:

I never understand why a passport for ID purposes has to be up to date if you look similar to the photo.

how would that work in practice though ?

If you're drawing up list of requirements for an ID check, you can't really say 'a current one, oh, but you can also use an expired one if it still looks like you' !

Presumably the ten-year timescale for both passport and photo driving renewals is set because it's been established that that is a realistic gap of time in which the vast majority of people are still easily recognisable from their photos, but beyond that recognition is more difficult.

westv

p00hsticks said:

westv said:

I never understand why a passport for ID purposes has to be up to date if you look similar to the photo.

how would that work in practice though ?

If you're drawing up list of requirements for an ID check, you can't really say 'a current one, oh, but you can also use an expired one if it still looks like you' !

Presumably the ten-year timescale for both passport and photo driving renewals is set because it's been established that that is a realistic gap of time in which the vast majority of people are still easily recognisable from their photos, but beyond that recognition is more difficult.

So what happens if you have an up to date clean shaven passport pic but you then grow a full beard and tash?

k_man

westv said:

I never understand why a passport for ID purposes has to be up to date if you look similar to the photo.

I assume that this is because passport formats change over time.
Older passports may have been easier to forge, and expired ones are hard to check for validity.

NedS

westv said:

p00hsticks said:

westv said:

I never understand why a passport for ID purposes has to be up to date if you look similar to the photo.

how would that work in practice though ?

If you're drawing up list of requirements for an ID check, you can't really say 'a current one, oh, but you can also use an expired one if it still looks like you' !

Presumably the ten-year timescale for both passport and photo driving renewals is set because it's been established that that is a realistic gap of time in which the vast majority of people are still easily recognisable from their photos, but beyond that recognition is more difficult.

So what happens if you have an up to date clean shaven passport pic but you then grow a full beard and tash?

Modern facial recognition software has no trouble distinguishing a beard or other facial hair - likewise glasses, hats etc.

Some places will accept an expired passport as photo ID - purely depends how robust their ID protocols are. Others will only accept current photo ID and will struggle to verify your identity if you are unable to provide it.

Working in an industry where we are required to ID people daily, I would always advise people that it is worth the cost of a passport or driving licence for ID purposes, even if they never plan to use them for their otherwise intended purposes. It's £82.50 to renew a passport online which equates to £8.25 per year - that has to be worth it for the potential hassle it will save. Driving licences are only £34.

Brie

NedS said:

Working in an industry where we are required to ID people daily, I would always advise people that it is worth the cost of a passport or driving licence for ID purposes, even if they never plan to use them for their otherwise intended purposes. It's £82.50 to renew a passport online which equates to £8.25 per year - that has to be worth it for the potential hassle it will save. Driving licences are only £34.

While I agree in principle that isn't always practical for everyone.  My passport costs closer to £200 to renew.  I'm sure there are lots of foreigners here that have to look at the same sort of costs - assuming they can renew it at all.  (I worked with a bloke who had a soviet passport and was really restricted when the soviet state no longer existed!)  And lots of people don't drive.  Or don't have a car or aren't allowed to drive for health reasons etc so are unlikely to retain a driving licence.