The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) works with ID.me to verify the identity of VA users requesting information online. ID.me provides secure digital identity verification to government agencies and healthcare providers to make sure you are you—and not someone pretending to be you. This article explains how to verify your identity for the VA.
Get started
How you access the Department of Veterans Affairs will depend on whether you already have an ID.me account or are creating an ID.me account for the first time. If this is your first time encountering ID.me, jump to Creating an ID.me account for the first time? for steps
Already have an account?
If you are an existing ID.me member, do not create another account. Instead, sign in to the VA and consent to share your verified identity information:
- Go to VA.gov and select Sign in.
- Select ID.me.
- Enter your email address and password, then select Sign in with ID.me.
- If required, follow the prompts to provide any additional information.
- From the Authorize screen, review the information that the VA will receive and then select Allow to consent to share that information with them.
Creating an ID.me account for the first time?
If you do not have an ID.me account, you need to:
- Create an ID.me account using your personal email address
- Verify your identity
- Consent to share your identity information with the VA to access their site.
You only need to verify your identity once—then you can use your ID.me log in at the VA and anywhere else ID.me is accepted.
Create an ID.me account
To create a new account:
- Go to VA.gov and select Sign in.
- Select ID.me, then Select Create account.
- Enter your personal email address and a strong password, then select Create account. Learn how to create a strong password.
- Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) to further protect your account.
Verify for the VA
You can verify your identity for Veterans Affairs by uploading a photo of a government-issued photo ID or on a video call with an ID.me agent.
Review the tabs below for steps on each verification method:
To verify your identity, you need:
- A smartphone or tablet
- A phone number
- Your Social Security number
- Proof of your identity. You can upload photos of your driver’s license or state ID, passport, or passport card.
To verify your identity with a government-issued photo ID:
- Select the government ID you want to upload. You can upload a driver’s license or state ID, or select Change document to upload a passport or passport card instead.
- Follow the prompts to upload a photo of your government-issued ID using your smartphone.
- Confirm that the information on your ID is clearly legible in the photo and select Continue.
- When prompted, enter your address, phone number, and Social Security number.
Confirm and share your information
After you complete your identity verification, you’ll need to confirm your information:
- Review the details and make sure that they are correct.
- Select the checkbox for the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), then select Yes.
- Select Allow to send the information that was just verified to the VA. If you select Deny, your access to the Veterans Affairs website will be limited.
After you verify your ID.me account with the VA, sign in by selecting Sign in with ID.me.
When verifying your identity on a video call, you must upload and show the following physical documents:
- Two primary documents or
- One primary and one secondary document
For a complete list of eligible primary and secondary documents, visit Primary and secondary identification documents.
You may also need to submit additional documentation:
- To prove your Social Security number
- To prove your current address
- If your name has changed
1. Enter your personal information
Begin by entering and confirming your personal information. This will be compared to the documents you upload later, so it’s important that everything is accurate.
- Enter your personal information, and then select Continue.
- Enter your Social Security number, which helps ID.me uniquely identify you. Select Continue.
You may be asked to allow ID.me to review your credit profile. This will not affect your credit score.
2. Select and send documents
Sending your identity documents helps ID.me prove you are who you say you are. To submit your documents:
- Select which primary or secondary documents you’ll use to verify. If there are pre-approved documents you have already uploaded, you can reuse the documents by selecting them. Select Continue.
Note: If there is an issue with your information, such as a recent name change, you may be asked to submit additional documents. - Send your documents by taking new document photos, reusing documents that were already approved, or choosing documents from your device.
- Select Take Photo, then enter your phone number to receive a link to upload your documents. You’ll receive a text message with a secure link from ID.me to take photos of your documents.
- Select a document under "Uploaded documents" to reuse a pre-approved document you uploaded during the Self-Service verification process.
- Select Choose Image to upload your documents already stored on your device.
- Confirm you have acceptable document uploads, then select Continue.
3. Review your information
The personal information you entered in Step 1 must match and appear on the documents you uploaded to prove your identity.
- Review your information and select Yes if the information you entered appears on the documents you uploaded.
- Choose Select a different document if they didn't match, then upload documents that have the personal information you entered earlier.
4. Gather your documents
To ensure you can quickly verify on a video call, have your documents ready to show to the Video Chat Agent. We cannot verify your identity using copies or photos of your identity documents. They must be original and in your physical possession.
Rejected documents
Your documents may get rejected for a variety of reasons. If you are notified that your documents weren’t accepted, visit Rejected documents for steps to fix this.
5. Join the video call
After your documents are reviewed and approved, follow the prompts to confirm you have your documents ready and that you consent to the video call being recorded. Select Join Video Call when you are ready.
After you join the video call:
- Wait for the Video Chat Agent to join.
- Verify the information you provided, including your name, date of birth, address, and Social Security number, if required.
- Show your documents to the Video Chat Agent. Hold your smartphone so the Video Chat Agent can see your documents, as shown below. If you cannot see your documents, ask the Video Chat Agent for directions.
With in-person verification, you’ll begin the process by booking an appointment. After you book an appointment, you’ll take your identity documents and “Registration Code” to an Identity Network Location on the day and time of your appointment or at your convenience, if you choose the walk-in option. ID.me is constantly working to expand in-person alternatives across the country. Check with your agency to see if in-person verification is available.
For steps to verify, visit Verifying your identity in-person.
Share your information with the VA
Finally, you must consent to share your information with the VA. After your video call, you'll receive an email from ID.me with the subject "Action Required: Complete your VA verification." Follow the instructions in the email to share your information with the VA.
After you verify your ID.me account with the VA, sign in by selecting ID.me.
Do you have multiple ID.me accounts?
If you already created a duplicate ID.me account using your work email address or another email address that you own, follow the steps in Using an email address that’s on your duplicate account to make your email address available to add to your original ID.me account.
Troubleshooting
If you receive an error when attempting to access a Veterans Affairs site after verification (Error Code: PE, etc), try the following:
- Clear your browser's cache and cookies. Also, enable cookies in your browser settings.
-
Update your browser to the latest version. For more information, visit Updating your web browser.
Note: If you are using Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge, try using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. - Close all of your browser windows before trying to sign in again.
- Return to VA.gov and sign in with your ID.me credentials.
If you continue to have trouble signing in or see an error, contact the VA for more assistance.
Who to contact for support
Who you need to contact for help depends on if you completed the verification process or not.
ID.me
ID.me can help if you have trouble with the identity verification process. Common issues include:
- Account sign-in issues
- Uploading identification documents or selfies
- Fixing documents that were rejected
Veterans Affairs
They can best help with questions and next steps after you complete the verification process. For example, you may have questions about benefits or services you verified for. Before contacting them:
- Confirm your verification was successful
- Confirm you shared your information with the organization
- Review our best practices and sample messages of how to request help from the organization you need to access.