Accepted Identity Documents
Login.gov currently accepts:
- Driver’s license — Valid and unexpired drivers licenses from all 50 states, DC, and U.S. territories (Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico) are accepted. Login.gov does not require REAL ID-compliant IDs and will continue to accept valid, unexpired state-issued IDs regardless of REAL ID compliance.
- Non-driver’s license state-issued ID card — Valid and unexpired state issued non-driver’s license state-issued ID card are accepted.
- U.S. passport book — Valid and unexpired U.S. passport books are accepted for remote identity verification. Login.gov does not verify U.S. citizenship. Partners requiring citizenship verification should determine this independently. Login.gov accepts U.S. government employee passports (diplomatic and official). The system validates the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) based on ICAO standards. The main differences are the passport book color (blue, red, and black) and that diplomatic or official passports start with distinct characters (e.g., ‘X’, ‘D’).
For the full list, see accepted identification documents.
Documents not currently accepted:
Per our public roadmap, we are continuously looking to add additional accepted document types. At this time, not accepted document types include Mobile driver’s licenses (mDL), U.S. passport cards , foreign passports, military ID, green cards/permanent resident cards, student ID, PIV/CAC cards (for identity verification purposes, accepted as MFA only), tribal ID, Veteran’s cards, local or state government cards, paper or temporary IDs, expired IDs, and extension documents.
International Use
- Authentication: Anyone, including international residents, can create a Login.gov account and authenticate from anywhere. SMS may not be reliable in all countries.
- Identity verification for foreign nationals: Possible if the user has a valid U.S. driver’s license, state ID, or U.S. passport book, an SSN, and can verify their phone or address.
- U.S. residents abroad: Possible if the user has a valid U.S. driver’s license, state ID, or U.S. passport book, an SSN, and can verify their phone or address.
- Non-U.S. citizens without U.S. credentials: Not currently supported. The core reason is that NIST 800-63 requires validating identity evidence against authoritative sources, and it is more challenging to access international authoritative data than domestic data.
We are interested in various international use cases and welcome information from agencies about their specific needs.
Minor Use
Per Login.gov’s Rules of Use, users must be at least 13 years old to create an account, but is subject to change with evolving NIST standards. Identity verification for minors is particularly challenging due to limited authoritative records (driver’s license, phone, credit history).
For partner applications where most end users are minors (e.g., internship programs), Login.gov does not recommend using its identity verification product at this time, since most of these users will be unable to successfully verify. Instead, Login.gov recommends:
- Start with Login.gov authentication services (email, password, MFA).
- Leverage your agency’s own identity verification process in the interim.
- Move to Login.gov’s identity verification when coverage for minors improves.
Login.gov is investing in additional channels and data sources to serve minors in the future. Some restrictions stem from NIST 800-63, and Login.gov has worked closely with NIST to ensure that Revision 4 and future versions bake broader access into compliance guidelines.
SSN Requirements
A Social Security number is currently required for identity verification. Users without an SSN are unable to complete identity proofing and are directed back to the partner application. The SSN is used in combination with other PII (name, address) for identity resolution. EINs are not supported because they are associated with a business entity, not an individual.
Phone Number Requirements
See the phone number help article.
Single Verified Account Policy
Login.gov has a “single verified account per person” policy across IAL2 applications. More information available upon request.