How Do You Get ID Verified on Tinder?

You do it through Tinder's ID + Photo Verification, if Tinder offers it to you. It is optional and available to some people in select test markets, on iPhone, Android and tinder.com. There are two steps. First comes a video selfie for Photo Verification. Then comes an ID Check, where you upload a government-issued photo ID such as a driver's license, passport or national ID card. Pass both and a blue checkmark goes on your account.

The first step is Photo Verification. You record a short video selfie, and Tinder scans your face to confirm that a real, live person took the video and that it was not digitally altered.

Tinder then uses your facial geometry to check that the face in the video looks like the face in your photos. If you have already done Photo Verification on its own, you skip this step. Tinder checks your ID photo against the face data it already holds instead of asking for another video.

Treat the video like a passport photo at the airport. Face good light, take off the sunglasses and the cap, keep a neutral expression, and fill the frame.

Next you upload a photo of a government-issued ID. Tinder's tool checks three things:

1. That the photo on the ID looks like the face from your video selfie and your photos.
2. That the date of birth on the ID shows you are over 18.
3. That the date of birth agrees with the age on your account.

That last point surprises people. If the date on your ID does not agree with your account, Tinder updates your account's date using the one from the ID. So if your age was wrong, by accident or on purpose, expect it to change.

Tinder accepts most driver's licenses, passports and national ID cards. The upload has to be a full view that clearly shows your photo, your name and your date of birth.

Most rejected uploads are a bad photo of the document, not a bad document. Lay the ID flat on a plain, dark surface. Shoot it straight on, in even light, with no glare across the photo or the text, and make sure no finger covers a corner. Then check that you can read every line before you submit.

Tinder is specific about this, and it is worth knowing before you hand over a license.

From the ID step it keeps a copy of the photo of you from the ID, the name on the ID, and a redacted photo of the front of the ID, for the life of your account. The redacted copy hides your address, physical characteristics, ID number and barcodes. From the video step it keeps a few still screenshots and your facial geometry, so the badge can stay on while you change your photos.

Tinder says this is stored on its Amazon Web Services servers and that it does not share your facial geometry or screenshots with other third parties. To delete the face data and ID details, you have to delete your account.

If you are in the US, Tinder also runs a registered sex offender check when you verify with a US ID. It shares your name and date of birth with a third party service to do it. If something comes up, the account goes to a manual review.

For an ordinary man this is a non-event. It is worth knowing about only so the step does not surprise you.

For most men, yes, because the badge answers a question she is already asking.

Women on the apps are cautious about fake accounts, and a dating coach's material on how women read men's photos keeps returning to it: anything that looks too good to be true makes her trust you less. A blue checkmark tells her the man in the photos is the man who owns the account, and that his age is real. It takes a small doubt off the table before you have said a word.

What it will not do is make weak photos work or turn a dull first line into a good one. The badge earns you a fair look. Your photos and what you write still decide what she does with it.

Do not go hunting for a workaround. ID + Photo Verification is offered only to some people in some markets. If it is not there for you, Photo Verification with a video selfie is the next best thing, and it still puts a verified badge on your account. Start it by tapping the profile icon, then the gray checkmark by your name.