Apple Says Us Passport Digital Ids Are Coming to Wallet 'soon'

Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago

SilverElfin

32 points

23 comments

techcrunch.comTechstory

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Digital IdentityMobile PaymentsGovernment Technology

Key topics

Digital Identity

Mobile Payments

Government Technology

Apple announces that digital US passports will be available in Wallet 'soon', sparking discussion about the implications and readiness of such a feature.

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01Story posted
Oct 27, 2025 at 3:30 PM EDT
2 months ago
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Nov 4, 2025 at 8:22 PM EST
2 months ago
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Discussion (23 comments)

Showing 23 comments

IOT_Apprentice

2 months ago

1 reply

Will DHS and ICE consider them valid proof of citizenship? I’d really like that confirmed.

iAMkenough

2 months ago

1 reply

Considering REAL ID is not sufficient for DHS or ICE, I highly doubt it.

> Apple says it is not a replacement for a physical passport, and it cannot be used for international travel and border crossing purposes.

I'd read that as you're still expected to produce physical documents if you get questioned.

ImJamal

2 months ago

2 replies

> Considering REAL ID is not sufficient for DHS or ICE, I highly doubt it.

You can get a real id without being a citizen so it shouldn't be used as proof of citizenship.

From the California DMV site:

> Any Californian who can prove their current legal presence in the United States (U.S.) with one of the accepted identity documents (original or certified copy) is eligible to receive a REAL ID driver license or identification (DL/ID) card. This includes all U.S. citizens, permanent residents who are not U.S. citizens (Green Card holders), and those with temporary legal status, such as recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and holders of a valid student or employment visa.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/driver-licenses-identification...

iAMkenough

2 months ago

1 reply

As you pointed out, you need to have a valid legal status to obtain a REAL ID.

My gripe is that presenting that proof of valid legal status is not enough proof for the enforcement agencies checking for valid legal status. A digital version of your passport is not going to make those agencies less difficult to work with in public places.

ImJamal

2 months ago

You had to have legal status when you received the real id. Having a non-expired real id does not mean you still have legal status.

wildzzz

2 months ago

REAL ID was never intended to be a citizen ID card. It's really just an extension of state IDs to have better identity verification by requiring more documents. The goal is that if someone has a REAL ID, then that's really who they are.

ravenstine

2 months ago

2 replies

Maybe I'm just not imaginative enough, but I don't imagine myself relying on a digital device in order to prove my identity in foreign countries. Drop your phone and break it... then what do you do? And yeah, you can lose your physical passport, but you can also repeatedly stomp on it and even submerge it in water and it will still be useful.

btian

2 months ago

2 replies

The article says this is not a replacement for physical passport.

makeitdouble

2 months ago

1 reply

I'm not sure what it actually means. For instance Apple Pay is probably not supposed to replace your actual credit card, but if you can live your life without ever using the physical one, that's just legalese.

If it really doesn't do much (i.e. only help to pass TSA lines), then perhaps it should be called something else. If it effectively can act as a passport in 80%+ more situations, "not a replacement for xxxx" will just be legalese for most users.

morshu9001

2 months ago

1 reply

Yeah I purely care about whether or not this will get me through TSA. I'm against Apple Pay and all that, but I really don't want to carry (=risk losing) my physical passport just for domestic travel.

chrisphilip

2 months ago

1 reply

You can use a Real ID drivers license for domestic travel, passport is only required when leaving the country.

morshu9001

2 months ago

1 reply

I don't have a Real ID just cause I don't want to deal with getting one. Was banking on it getting delayed repeatedly until they offer something else.

dwaite

2 months ago

1 reply

What else did you imagine?

morshu9001

2 months ago

Either a digital passport like we got around last year, this new Apple Wallet version, or just giving up on the RealID thing

matthewdgreen

2 months ago

Not useful for much in the real world, but extremely useful for online age verification.

kylehotchkiss

2 months ago

1 reply

Instead of stomping on your passport, grab a $30 passport card, useful for ID in non-border contexts abroad (other countries tend to have card shaped national IDs that a passport card can stand in for). No real issues if you lose it; nobody can get into the USA with it, and you can leave your passport in your hotel room

devilbunny

2 months ago

1 reply

> you can leave your passport in your hotel room

I generally do this anyway; about the only time I carry a passport while just out and about in another country (note: not risky ones) is if making large purchases that will be VAT-refundable. Do merchants accept the card in lieu of passport for verifying you for VAT exemption? Many will take a photo on the phone, but not all.

kylehotchkiss

2 months ago

1 reply

I used it in South Asia for ID purposes. There’s a lot of going to photocopier businesses to get duplicates of things (gvmt offices won’t do that for you), so it’s nice that middlemen aren’t getting your home address

devilbunny

2 months ago

US passports do not have home addresses or Social Security numbers. Date and place of birth (state, not city) only. Probably not much safer, but there it is.

everfrustrated

2 months ago

1 reply

First step on the path to signing everything you write on the internet with your government issued digital ID.

Be careful what you give up in the name of convenience.

morshu9001

2 months ago

Who says it's my- oh, FaceID

sigmar

2 months ago

I added my US passport to my Pixel's wallet app in June. It's neat and let's you see what data is transmitted over NFC, and lists some details about the signed certificate for the data (seems they do only 2 weeks of validity for each cert signature, and the app fetches a new sig automatically) but I have yet to come across TSA agents advertising acceptance of digital IDs, so typically I default to my passport card.

eqvinox

2 months ago

> when my iPhone is my wallet, passport, visa, and any other identity document I might require.

...also if your phone gets stolen now, you're completely screwed... for physical objects, you're supposed to keep your passport and wallet separate when travelling; makes recovering the respective other one easier if it gets stolen...

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ID: 45725279Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 12:29:33 PM

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