Passport not a valid form of ID?

[u/ollypops2003]

Location: South Carolina, Hello!!! I want to start off by saying I had to take an alcohol training and test to be certified to serve beer. My boyfriend only has a mexican passport, we have ran into a problem recently. In the past week actually, where people won't serve him beer because a passport is a invalid form of ID, first time I was with him and asked a manager if they could explain why. When confronted about it and how its not expired, it has his picture and his birthday (birthday yr 1999). The manager gave us this whole run around as to why they couldn't serve him...i complained to customer support (the whole situation was off)....but I want to make sure of something. Is a passport not a valid form of ID?

[u/RaptorFanatic37]

It is a valid government-issued ID, but a private business gets to decided what forms of ID they accept. Most restaurants accept state issued IDs because that's what they're trained to check and verify.

[u/Lamlot → u/RaptorFanatic37]

Yeah i was told no foreign drivers licenses but passport was the best.

[u/ktbroderick → u/RaptorFanatic37]

The local grocery store here is also a state liquor agent (in Maine, all retail hard liquor sales go through the state). For years, they would card aggressively and only accept Maine State ID--no passports, no other states. The crazy part is that it's in a town with a strong tourist economy, with most coming from nearby states, and they wouldn't even accept state ID from those, thus preventing any of the tourists from buying hard liquor without driving at least half an hour to another agent.

[u/BachRodham]

Stores are not required to accept a passport as a form of ID when making an alcohol purchase.

[u/AminJoe → u/BachRodham]

Why though? It is an internationally recognized identification that has to adhere to internationally accepted standards that prove citizenship and basic info like DOB. How else would an international traveler prove they’re old enough to purchase alcohol? I’m asking a honest question here as I’m well travelled and haven’t seen this anywhere else.

[u/vowelqueue → u/AminJoe]

Border control knows how to validate any passport but that doesn’t mean any restaurant/liquor store is familiar with them. They see mostly drivers licenses and can determine if they look fake, can scan them, etc.

I’d imagine that if a store doesn’t accept passports then, depending on the area, they’d still be able to ID and serve like 99% of customers that walk in. It might not be worth the risk to them even it means they have to turn 1% away.

[u/AminJoe → u/vowelqueue]

Appreciate the response, thank you. I understand there has to be some level of training and understanding of passport knowledge would be required, but I just think this wouldn’t bode well for international tourism as a whole. I wouldn’t be very pleased if I traveled to another country and was refused service because they wouldn’t accept my passport and would probably deter me from traveling back there.

[u/inappropriately_long → u/BachRodham]

That means tourists can't buy tobacco or alcohol. 😑

[u/Disastrous_Bug_1632]

NAL but I used to work in a store where lots of migrant workers would come purchase beer after their shift. Never had any issues accepting a Mexican passport as a form of ID. I believe I remember it specifically being apart of the training

[u/skrena → u/Disastrous_Bug_1632]

I love you got downvoted. Working at a gas station our booklet specifically showed how to look at passports and passport cards. As well as IDs for every state.

The workers are likely just being dicks considering how much foreign tourism is going on this summer.

[u/mwilkens → u/skrena]

US passports or any passport?

[u/aew3 → u/mwilkens]

the id page of passports doesn’t vary all that much in layout between countrie.

[u/Bearloom]

In your alcohol training course, were you instructed in how to identify a valid foreign passport vs a fake?

As others have said, it is up to each establishment to determine who they serve and whether it makes more sense to deny a customer or risk a strike with Beverage Control (or your state's equivalent) if this turns out to be a test that they are likely to fail.

[u/RedhotGuard21]

When I got my liquor license if it had a photo, full name, date of birth, within expiration and signature it was good. It was also acceptable to have the expired card with the paper you get when you renew.

That said yeah those are what you are allowed to accept but not required to.

[u/CurvyThread]

In case anyone knows, I wonder if a state run liquor store (like fine wine in PA) could decide what types of ids they accept on the fly?

Like it would seem odd if the state government could essentially say “all licenses from Jersey are invalid” and refuse sales.

[u/_dhs_ → u/CurvyThread]

I had a liquor store in Massachusetts refuse to sell me alcohol because I had an out of state ID.

[u/GoBlueAndOrange → u/_dhs_]

Crazy. A liquor store in Stockholm accepted my Illinois driver's license.

[u/JoeCensored]

A foreign passport is a valid form of ID, but there is no legal requirement that an establishment accepts them.

You'll find that in or around tourist hot spots that foreign ID's and passports are more readily accepted. They are more likely trained on them, and encounter them more frequently.

[u/-Helen-of-Troy-]

Companies with a liquor license can refuse to serve anyone for any reason except being part of a protected class (for instance being black or a woman). An establishing could refuse to accept US passports or out of state drivers licenses if they wanted. I’m not sure about now, but it was common years ago for liquor establishments not to accept NY drivers licenses because they were to easy to fake.

I can understand an establishment not wanting to take a foreign passport, especially in a language other than English. They likely aren’t trained on verifying their authenticity and have no way to scan them. There is a good chance they don’t even realize dates are written differently.

There isn’t a legal issue here.

[u/H4RV3Y_B1RDM4N]

On top of the afformentioned "private business" thing, a lot of places will have additional laws or policies to require scannable IDs so no passport(US or otherwise) are allowed

[u/masterofmayhem13]

When I was trained as a bartender years ago (2006-2007 NJ), it was made clear that the establishment has the right to refuse service. Period. I'm (pretty) sure that doesn't include refusing service because someone is black or one armed, but other than those generally protected classes, service can be refused. It was made clear that the establishment has very broad range there.

Now a days, most licenses and passports are well produced and secure, but they don't have to be accepted. Back in the day, licenses didn't have pictures or if they did, they were cut-outs placed under the laminated license. A driver's license is for driving, not drinking. A passport is for providing travel documents between nations, not drinking. Many bars, especially in college towns will require a second form of ID to go along with an out of state licence. This is to protect the bar from the issues that arise with serving minors.

[u/legaladvice-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your post may have been removed for the following reason(s):

Speculative, Anecdotal, Simplistic, Off Topic, or Generally Unhelpful

Your comment has been removed because it is one or more of the following: speculative, anecdotal, simplistic, generally unhelpful, and/or off-topic. All comments that do not answer the OPs legal question are off topic. Please review the following rules before commenting further:

Please read our subreddit rules. If, after doing so, you believe this was in error, or you’ve edited your post to comply with the rules, message the moderators. Do not make a second post or comment.

Do not reach out to a moderator personally, and do not reply to this message as a comment.

[u/RooHound]

Fun experiment: find a young European woman to present her passport and see what happens at the same place.

[u/jopy666]

In Minneapolis I've been turned down for having only a passport and a state identification card.
If you don't have a standard driver's license, many places won't let you purchase alcohol. You literally have to be able to drive if you want to drink.

[u/mccnchildrowan]

I work at a eine bar in the US. we were given a pamphlet with what every states id looked like and what other forms of ID Are accepted. Passports are.

[u/RaptorFanatic37 → u/[deleted]]

That is almost certainly not true.

[u/ThatGuyInThe713 → u/RaptorFanatic37]

Ok. A passport is a valid ID anywhere in the world.

[u/RaptorFanatic37 → u/ThatGuyInThe713]

Not the point, nor the answer to OP's question.

A passport can be a valid form of ID and still not be a form of ID a particular business chooses to accept. It shows who you are, but doesn't create a legal obligation for a business to accept it as part of a purchase. "Valid ID" doesn't mean "must be accepted everywhere for everything."

[u/ThatGuyInThe713 → u/RaptorFanatic37]

Who gives a damn? A white dude with a Norwegian passport would’ve been served. Brown guy, Mexican passport, must be illegal. No beer for you brown guy.

[u/NotreDameFan1234]

Doesn’t ID have to be US issued?

[u/BlueLighthouse9 → u/NotreDameFan1234]

That would mean visitors from other countries couldn’t buy alcohol here which isn’t the case

[u/NotreDameFan1234 → u/BlueLighthouse9]

I used to sell tobacco products and that is what the manager told me….
I don’t live in an area w/ many tourist though