Adding US passport to wallet repeatedly fails during verification

"Adding US passport to wallet repeatedly fails during verification"

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Thank you for the screenshot.

Adding US Passport to Wallet:

A. Turn Off VPNs:

Are you connected to a VPN? If so, turn it off.

B. Close All Apps:

There might be Apps that are open that are getting in the way. So, save what need be, and then close all apps. Hold you finger down as you swipe up form the bottom-left corner of your screen. Then, close all of these open apps, by sweeping up quickly for all apps.

C. Perform a Force Restart:

Try Force Restarting your iPhon. Save any information that need be. Then perform the restart. See if you can then perform this. Go Here: Force Restart iPhone - Apple Support

“Hi MrHoffman: I did, as mentioned in my message.”

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Screenshare your iPhone with Apple Suport:

So, give Apple Supprt another buzz, but THIS TIME. screenshare your iPhone by with then, putting it on speakerphone. That way, the Apple Support Rep can see this firsthand from YOUR perspective.

Jeff Donald wrote:

Just a FYI. Turning off VPN makes no difference. A VPN does not interfere with NFC.

It might interfere with the network connection to some necessary server, or with the server’s willingness to trust the connection, though. (I don’t know if the process requires a network connection for related checks or for registration, but it wouldn’t surprise.)

There’s not a whole lot of technical details on the design, but I’d again absolutely expect DHS / TSA servers are involved with adding the passport info into Wallet.

Here is how the pieces tie together, including the document-signing process, and including the privacy-focused age verification that will probably be the biggest use of all of this ID stuff:

Verify identity documents on the web - WWDC25 - Videos - Apple Developer

And again, I’d expect a VPN might get things tangled when adding an ID into Wallet.

You’re correct. The US State Department is verifying the photo on file compared to images submitted by passport holder. Beyond that he couldn’t/wouldn’t tell me much.

So, in essence a VPN might affect the verification process.

millifoo2 wrote:

Hi MrHoffman: I did, as mentioned in my message.

You’ll need to call Apple Support again, then.

All of TSA in those select airports and those gates where this is available will be figuring out how this works, too.

Here are the limits, and some of what doc is available: Use your Digital ID in Apple Wallet - Apple Support

Contact Apple Support, as suggested by the message: Contact Apple Support - Apple Support

My understanding is everything is done on the iPhone. The chip is read and a secure copy is made on the iPhone. The photo page is used as reference for various scans/poses and comparisons and authentication is done on the iPhone and stored securely. Probably stored in Secure Enclave.

At TSA the chip is read by same NFC scanner used for physical passport and photo page used for verification of passport presenter.

I'm having the same problem as you so it's not an isolated incident. Tried a half dozen times. Easily get to the submitted for verification stage and it always fails verification with the (unhelpful) response to contact Apple support.

Jeff Donald wrote:

My understanding is everything is done on the iPhone. The chip is read and a secure copy is made on the iPhone. The photo page is used as reference for various scans/poses and comparisons and authentication is done on the iPhone and stored securely. Probably stored in Secure Enclave.

At TSA the chip is read by same NFC scanner used for physical passport and photo page used for verification of passport presenter.

While secure enclave and NFC is used locally, and while the following image is not specifically the passport addition, here is a network connection arising when adding a state ID into Wallet:

I’d be surprised if DHS / TSA didn’t want to receive data and possibly metadata and possibly also provide approval, too.

And VPNs inherently alter with IP geolocation.

State ID/DL is verified by each states DMV. If the digital DL is used at a TSA station at an airport, the digital DL is re-confirmed with the state’s DMV.

I’m checking more on the Digital Passport. Passport’s are issued by US State Department. If they go through an external verification, that would be the agency to do it.

I’ve got a brother-in-law that works for state department and I’ve reached out to him to learn more.

Have you contacted Apple Support? If so, what did they say? Are you in a very well lit indoor location? The images submitted must look as close as possible to photograph in the physical passport. Remove hats, glasses must be on or off depending on passport etc. If you’ve changed your facial appearance (beard, shaved, weight loss or gain) it will affect the process and may result in a try again error.

Just a FYI. Turning off VPN makes no difference. A VPN does not interfere with NFC.