What ID Does Tinder Accept for Age Verification?

A driver's license or a passport. Those are the two documents Tinder lists as valid for age verification. Tinder also names documents people often submit that it does not accept. Those are a pension book, a resident card, a temporary driver's license and a student ID card. If you have a full license or a passport, use it and the check is straightforward.

The list is short. A driver's license and a passport both carry your photo, your name and your date of birth, which is exactly what an age check needs to read.

If you have both, either will do. A passport is often the better pick if your license is scuffed, faded or cracked across the photo. The goal is a document whose details come through sharp the first time.

Tinder calls out four documents by name, because people send them so often.

• A student ID card. It is in your wallet, it has your photo, and it feels official. It is still not accepted.
• A temporary driver's license. The paper slip you get while the real card is in the mail does not count.
• A resident card. Not on the accepted list, even though it is a government document.
• A pension book. Also named as not accepted.

Sending one of these costs you time. The check comes back turned down and you start again with the right document. Tinder says the review itself should take less than a few hours, so a wrong first attempt can easily double your wait.

This catches men who have just renewed or moved. The plastic card has not arrived, and the paper version is all you have.

Use your passport if you have one. If you do not, the simplest answer is to wait until the permanent license arrives rather than sending the temporary one and hoping. And never use anyone else's ID. The check exists to confirm your age, and borrowing a brother's license breaks the rules you agreed to when you signed up.

Tinder runs age verification in your phone's browser rather than inside the app, and the browser needs your permission to use the camera. A little preparation keeps the check from stalling halfway.

• Have the license or passport in your hand, not in the glove box.
• Make sure your browser is allowed to use the camera. On an iPhone, that switch sits under Settings, then your browser, then Camera. On Android, it sits under Settings, Apps, your browser, Permissions, then Camera.
• Find a table with a plain, dark surface and decent light.

Tinder notes that you can switch the browser's camera access back off once you are done.

A good document can still fail if the picture of it is poor. A few habits take care of that.

• Lay the ID flat on a plain, dark surface.
• Shoot it straight on, not at an angle.
• Use even light and tilt away from any glare across the photo or the text.
• Keep your fingers off the edges, so no corner is covered.
• Before you submit, zoom in and make sure you can read every line.

Tinder names damaged, covered and unclear IDs as reasons a check fails. Each of those is avoidable in the minute before you press submit.

Where Tinder requires the check before you can chat, your matches are waiting on it. That makes the choice of document more than paperwork.

A woman who matched with you tonight is thinking about you tonight. Leave her for three days because your student card bounced and your first message lands on someone who has since matched with other men. The same line that would have worked on Monday gets a slower, colder reception on Thursday.

So treat verification as step one of the conversation. Have the right ID in your hand before you start, get it through once, and get back to her.

Verification proves you are old enough. It does nothing for what she thinks of you.

Open with a question about something real in her pictures, not a bare hello. Keep the chat light and specific. When she is clearly enjoying it, suggest a place and a day. If the account gets few matches at all, that is a separate problem worth fixing. Your clearest, most recent photo belongs first, and the blurry group shots belong in the bin.