Some countries require all people to have an identity document available at any time. Most countries accept passports as a form of identification. Some countries do not accept driver's licenses for identification, often because in those countries they do not expire as documents and can be old or easily forged. In the absence of a formal identity document, a driver's license may be accepted in many countries for identity verification. When the identity document incorporates a person's photograph, it may be called photo ID.
Some countries issue formal identity documents, as national identification cards which may be compulsory or non-compulsory, while others may require identity verification using regional identification or informal documents. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card ( IC, ID card, citizen card), or passport card.
An identity document (also called a piece of identification or ID, or colloquially as papers) is any document that may be used to prove a person's identity.
