Getting frustrated to be needing photo ID.

[Soubriquet]

I don’t have a drivers license as I don’t drive. I don’t have a passport as I can’t afford to travel. I also never bothered with photo ID because I don’t drink or smoke.

This seems to be changing lately. Birth certificate and marriage certificates aren’t enough. More places require a photo ID which is a pita for me as it’s an expense I shouldn’t have to fork out for.

Yes, I know it’s better for security and stuff but it’s annoying.

It is rare I ever need to show my photo ID.

The only time I have been asked for ID is when travelling in and out of the UK and that’s 1-2x a year or when applying for jobs to prove I have permission to work in the UK (have indefinite leave).

I get by with just my bank card, even though my face isn’t on it. Saying that, I do have all my photo IDs saved on my phone.

https://www.gov.uk/types-of-british-nationality/british-citizenship

Well yes. Being born here doesn't mean you are a citizen

Official disclaimer that nothing I have said here is to be taken as Ways To Fake Your Identity And Right To Work 😂

Tbh I did wonder about how often these are faked a while ago. That's why it's not accepted where I am from. We do have national IDs tho

I dont drive or travel so no passport so i got a provisional license for ID easy to get .

I managed until age 65 (more or less) without photo ID. I do drive but have the old style licence with no photo. I did have a passport but it expired in 2006 and as I was broke and didn't need it to go abroad I didn't renew it. Also, up until 2006 I wasn't ever asked to produce except for when I went abroad. In fact it was more of a nuisance to have one as I was constantly being asked to sign passport application forms for kids at school. Eventually I was able to say I couldn't sign them as you have to have a current passport yourself.

I was getting on OK until my parents died and sorting out their estate with bank accounts etc was so complicated that Igave in and got a passport even though I had no intention of going abroad.

That's no surprise as it's only been the last 20 years or so that photo id has been a requirement due to the money laundering/proceeds of crime legislation, which has also been tightened up and expanded since it's introduction.

I'm an accountant, we never used to have to do ID proof checks on our clients, from around 2002 onwards, we've had to do it. At first, it was pretty "casual" and we could "tick a box" to say we'd known the client for x years and happy as to their identity and address, but as time has passed, the obligations and requirements have become more onerous, through to having to have physically seen and photocopied their photo ID documents, and more latterly, doing online electronic ID checks.

A national ID card scheme would have been so much easier for everyone, but the general public didn't want it!

I think more people will find themselves needing IDs. Even landlords are supposed to check right to rent. Yes there is a list of non photo id docs but they might be pita to find as well since it requires 2
www.gov.uk/landlord-immigration-check

I was just asking because I and everyone else I know has had to supply a birth certificate, NI number and photo ID (passport or drivers/provisional licence). A provisional licence should be cheaper than a passport.

That's because you were not a citizen from birth, my DSs are UK citizens because they were born here and I am a citizen from birth. DH has settled status but that wouldn't be enough for our DC to have British passports. So for their RTW their BC show my place of birth and nationality, and their place of birth.

I agree with you OP. It's bloody infuriating. Especially as I'm only ever told I have to have one for really mundane things.

Eg, I recently needed a DBS check for a voluntary thing I'm doing. No photo ID, but other forms are acceptable. A slight pain because they needed about 60billion of them, but doable.
Changed my name on my bank account, they didn't ask for ID, but I did have to sign and put my pin into a machine so I guess that verified that I was me.

Otoh I took my gov support scheme voucher to the local shop to top my electric meter up. They insisted they had to see photo ID. Even though there's a ale list of acceptable ID on the letter. 3 of which I had with me.

If they are going to be "mandatory" (not officially, but that everywhere will be asking for them) then fine. But it needs to be made clear that you will need one, and actually a free version should be available. I know a citizen card is cheap, but some people still can't afford one.

How does seeing a driving licence or passport prove that they are qualified to do the job? How does it prove that they were the person who sat the exams and gained the qualifications? How does it prove the qualification evidence is genuine?

Some trust is needed, that comes with actually speaking to the person, asking questions, understanding the field so you know when things don't make sense.

Your last paragraph proved my point about lowering society to protect from the lowest common denominator.

I've had to prove my right to work before now, I showed my birth certificate and ni number. If I needed qualifications to do the job, then I would expect to produce them, if I had changed my name I could produce my birth certificate/deed of name change. No photo ID needed. This came as a shock as I had been working for 20 years before being told I had to prove I had the right to work. What caused the change?

The rule of thumb has always been innocent until proven guilty. So it's assumed you are genuine until a something happens to say otherwise. This constantly proving and evidencing that you are real talks me I am guilty of lying until i prove that I'm genuine. I don't like this in society.

I'm 67. I've managed UP TO NOW without photo ID. I make a damn fuss when folk ask for it. There are ALWAYS alternatives. I've bought & sold houses, arranged banking etc including my late mum's property, with a mix of bank cards, birth cert, medical card, bus pass, utility bills.. people do look at me incredulously when I have no passport or driving licence. I've a large family & never had the money to travel or to drive - I did once have a provisional licence but as I understood it, only a full licence will do for proof of ID.
Oddly I've no gun licence either. :-0

I did look at a Citizen's card once but thought you had to show a passport to get one, which kinda defeats the object - is this not the case? (I struggle with reading T&C's etc since my late husband died, no idea why, the ability's never returned..)

I'd like to go to NI to visit relatives, but don't want to turn up with insufficient ID & be turned away.. would a citizen's card be sufficient for that?
(Sorry OP, didn't mean to hijack your thread!)

I'd like to go to NI to visit relatives, but don't want to turn up with insufficient ID & be turned away.. would a citizen's card be sufficient for that?
(Sorry OP, didn't mean to hijack your thread!)

You'll need photo ID to board a flight or ferry. For most airlines, this will be a passport. Some ferry carriers will accept a citizen’s card but you’d need to confirm that yours would in advance of travel.

You can fly to Northern Ireland with a driving license from mainland U.K.

With some airlines, not all - it’s airline dependent rather than dictated by NI entry requirements. OP would need to check which ones will only accept a passport.

I agree - it actually reverses the presumption of innocence - one of our long standing rights - and assumes that you're lying unless you have a piece of card to prove you aren't.

I got told of for doing this with Ryanair - it was accepted on the way but at City of Derry airport they told me never to do it again - I think they have tightened up since then, but fairly sure you can travel on ferries using Driving Licence. There's no legal requirement for a passport - it's just airlines being difficult.

Ryanair won't accept any one on any flight without a passport. That is their policy which they are entitled to have. You got very lucky they let you board, they shouldn't have.

Sight of photo ID doesn't prove someone is capable of doing the job, but it does prove that the person is likely to be who they say they are.

You would hope that universities know who their students are and would spot an imposter sitting exams.

You would also hope that employers check the validity of qualifications and not that someone has just knocked up a degree certificate themselves. Anyone with a qualification is usually a member of a professional body and you can check online that they are appropriately qualified.

Of course, none of this is infalliable, but any reputable employer, especially if there's a risk of abuse/exploitation of the vulnerable should be undertaking robust checks into ID and qualifications on employment that would weed out imposters and anyone with a criminal record that would make them unsuitable for that particular role. Plus the more hoops you put in place for potential employees to jump through, the less likely that criminals/potentials criminals will get through them.

Are you genuinely saying that all people who apply to work in schools, care or the NHS should be taken at face value and nothing done to check that anyone is unqualified or has a criminal record?

As I said, II got royally told off and this was a long time ago. Of course it's up to Ryanair if they want to be difficult about what ID they want me to show them to travel to part of the same country. I made an error at the time in not doing enough research on their terms.

I'm 67 now too - selling my parents' house wasn't particularly the problem, nor was getting the proceeds into my bank account, it was when I tried to transfer my sibling's share to their bank account that I ran into problems. It's not a problem I had had to consider before of course, but you can't transfer more than £25k a day privately from your own account, and they needed their money quickly and it was SUCH a pain. My nearest bank is a few towns away and I kept having to go home to find yet more documentation. I was so stressed (at a stressful and upsetting time anyway) that I gave up and applied for a passport. I suppose that what they want us to do.

This came as a shock as I had been working for 20 years before being told I had to prove I had the right to work. What caused the change?
The Tory government shifted the burden of enforcement to employers not to employ people without the right to work, rather than to any agency of government to enforce the law. Because employers can't pick and choose the people from whom they demand papers proving right to work, we have the ridiculous charade where the 99% of people who are legit have to prove it.

Oh I agree… the only person I know who doesn’t have any photographic ID is my friend’s sister who has never worked!