# Do you have government issued I.D.? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644 "2012-03-13T13:27:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/41 "2012-03-13T19:35:07Z")
Just a driver’s license. I need to get a damn passport… ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/42 "2012-03-13T20:52:27Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > So do you? > > Poll to follow… Most of us do. Why is this a question? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/43 "2012-03-13T20:56:09Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Most of us do. Why is this a question? I assume that it’s about voter ID laws that are winding through the courts. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/44 "2012-03-13T21:02:59Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Most of us do. Why is this a question? Perhaps it’s related to the question of requiring ID to vote in the US. However, people who are active on an internet board are rather more likely to have ID. For me, living in Australia but having lived in the US until last year: Australian passport NSW “Driver Licence” Ohio “Driver License” US Social Security card (if that counts as ID). While living in the US, I also had a “green card”, i.e., permanent resident card, but I handed that in at the nearest US consulate last August. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/45 "2012-03-13T21:25:34Z")
The DMV is a government, right? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/46 "2012-03-13T21:46:03Z")
I have a state ID. I use it when going through airport screening. That’s the only time I’ve needed a picture ID in close to a decade. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/47 "2012-03-13T21:51:45Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > The DMV is a government, right? In the US, the “Department of Motor Vehicles” is generally part of the state government, so yes. (It’s not called “Department of Motor Vehicles” in every state.) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/48 "2012-03-13T21:52:35Z")
I have 6 issued by 3 different governments - 2 national, 3 state and 1 from my country of birth. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/49 "2012-03-13T21:54:53Z")
I have two, a US passport and a Maryland driver’s license. I recall having to produce my passport to fill out an I-9 form, but other than that it stays in the drawer if I’m not crossing a border. The driver’s license has sufficed for everything else. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/50 "2012-03-13T22:37:56Z")
Driver’s license, social security card and an expired passport. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/51 "2012-03-13T22:56:10Z")
I have a driver licence and a passport. There is no national ID card system and those two are likely to be the only govt issued photo id’s unless you are in the armed forces or police. No such thing as SS cards, and the only other govt issued number would be your IRD (Inland Revenue Department) number which everyone gets when starting work or drawing social welfare benefits. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/52 "2012-03-13T23:19:36Z")
My passport expired, and post 9/11 the costs have gone up so much I haven’t renewed it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Stendhal\_Syndrome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@Stendhal\_Syndrome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stendhal_Syndrome)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/53 "2012-03-13T23:26:20Z")
I used to have a state ID but I let it expire. I have a driver license, passport, green card, and my work ID for the county’s sheriff’s office. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/54 "2012-03-14T00:36:26Z")
[ul] [li]Valid general-use ID as per post-9/11, i.e. something I can use to get on an airline flight, cash a check or enter a federal facility with: DL and Passport.[/li] [li]ID _supporting documents_ - Certificate of Live Birth, Social Security Card.[/li] [li]Limited-use official ID: Picture-ID voter registration card issued by the State Elections Commission, strictly advised at every turn to not be used for anything other than voting or signing candidate petitions. Work ID issued by a Branch of Government but only of any use at the workplace to get in and out the door and for getting government-rate discount when applicable.[/li][/ul] What most Americans use as their “Government-issued ID” did not originate as a proper ID document but gained that use through “mission creep”. The driver’s license is a _certificate that you are authorized to drive a motor vehicle_ on public roads. The passport is _evidence of citizenship at border crossings and ports of entry_. At some point they came to include the picture of the holder and to have the applicant’s information subjected to verification, which in turn made it convenient to ask for them as a form of identification of who are you, and it was eventually formalized as such. A very large number of Americans do not so much lack\*\*\* any \*\*\*official document that says who they are, as do not have _ **documents “compliant” with specific laws or regulations** _ - they may have a baptismal certificate and a SS card and employee ID and a set of utility bills and rent receipts in their name, for instance, but not have one of the specific forms of “government issued photo-ID” that ever more often the statutes and regulations require (and that ever more often are costly or cumbersome to get). For years Americans could cross their land borders with their birth certificate. Now you need a WHTI-compliant ID and those are severalfold more expensive. And so on. > [@Kiwi\_Fruit](#): > > No such thing as SS cards, and the only other govt issued number would be your IRD (Inland Revenue Department) number which everyone gets when starting work or drawing social welfare benefits. That’s largely paralleled in everyday use with US Social Security – all you need for most transactions in life is just knowing what your SSN is; you only need present the actual card for your employment or benefits elegibility verification. In fact you are advised to\* avoid having it on your person\* except if going to use it today for such ends. The SSN is \* evidence of elegibility \*for employment and benefits and of having been accounted for as a taxpayer by the Social Security system and the Internal Revenue. For a while in the mid-late 20th Century the Federal and State Governments went along a path of gradually turning the SSN into a de-facto universal ID/account number, and looked the other way as private entities also began using it as employee/customer/student/account number; only later as worries of fraud and ID theft rose, was it they backed off and cracked down on uses extraneous to the legal mandate. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/55 "2012-03-14T00:45:30Z")
Of course I do. Driver’s license. I used to have a passport. To my mind, it would be a tremendous pain in the ass to NOT have a government ID. How many times have people asked me for a photo ID at the teller’s window, or at the currency exchange, or at an employment agency? Imagine explaining why you don’t carry government ID over and over and over again. Why would you not? Unless you’re one of those separatist nuts or a tax dodger, I can’t see the reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/56 "2012-03-14T03:11:02Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:26, topic:615644”] I have various other documents that may or may not count as government-issued ID, depending on context. [/QUOTE] > [@BobArrgh](#): > > Hmmm … 33 posts in and nobody admits to having a Concealed Carry License? One of the “various other documents” to which I refer is a Montana Concealed Carry Permit. ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/57 "2012-03-14T04:54:38Z")
Three (I think): UK passport, UK driving licence, Singaporean Employment Pass. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/58 "2012-03-14T09:45:47Z")
For the implied purposes of the OP (eligibility to vote?) I am guessing that a city-issued photo ID wouldn’t count. I had a (now expired) photo-ID massage therapist permit card issued by the city I was living in that the time. I imagine that it wouldn’t do to get me on an airplane, though. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/59 "2012-03-14T13:37:32Z")
[ol] [li]Irish driving licence[/li][li]Irish passport[/li][li]Medical Card[/li][li]Social Welfare Card[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644/60 "2012-03-14T13:56:46Z")
Israeli ID card (required to vote; I don’t need it for much else) Israeli driver’s license (my main walking-around ID) Israeli passport U.S. passport Israeli army reserves card [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-government-issued-i-d/615644.md?page=4)