Why can’t I add my passport to Digital ID?

The low light levels is a known issue. I’ve been recommending people do it outside in shade so they aren’t squinting. Low light levels are definitely an issue.

Blue-Devil99:

It’s also possible that you have a defective chip and/or antenna in your passport.

The feature just became available today and so far, you are the only person. You literally have to rub the chip on your iPhone to get it to read. Do you have your Apple Wallet and Apple Pay setup? What iOS is your iPhone using ?

Jeff Donald wrote:

I’m think the OP may need to update his iOS version. While it was a server side update, I suspect they need to be at 26.1 or higher.

If they aren't on 26.1, that could certainly be why they're having an issue adding their Passport to their Apple Wallet. There isn't actually anything higher than 26.1 on public release at this time.

That other people are having the same problem. They will call back Thursday add collect logs.

My situation was different. After 7 or 8 attempts I got it on the phone but not the watch. On the attempt that worked I just wore my glasses because I can't see without them and it worked. Went into the Watch app to add it and it failed a couple of dozen times. Called Apple. The first rep did the standard trouble shooting which I did on my own. He conferred with others and told me one of them said to remove it from the phone and re-add it. I told my rep that guy is a fool. That's not the problem and if I remove it I doubt will get it back. After an hour and a half they said that was the last option. Did it and surprise, suprise I can't add the passport on the phone now like I told them. Transferred me to someone on the Wallet team. She told me she had some else with the same problem. I sent some screenshots that she can send to the engineers and they will get back to me. I figure for me I've been timed out for trying to many times. I think the general problem is either the package that Apple collects and retransmits has problems or the US verification system has a problem (thanks AI and shut down). Either way I'll try tomorrow with better lighting and if it doesn't work wait.

It’s the classic “Chicken vs. Egg” problem.

Nor is it really unexpected and it mirrors state’s roll-outs of MobileID.

e.g. “Why should “we” (CBP) expend resources fielding our systems when there aren’t yet any (much less many) mobile passports circulating.”

This “statement” is illustrative:

Digital ID is not a replacement for a physical passport, and cannot be used for international travel and border crossing in lieu of a U.S. passport.

Source: Apple introduces Digital ID, a new way to create and present an ID in Apple Wallet - Apple

BlueDevil-99 wrote:

Installed 26.2 last night and tried adding the passport this morning. Still broken. I’ve tried on two different phones with no success. Apple’s gone from “It just works” to “It might work, it might not. We don’t know.” One month and not fix.

You should contact Apple Support for help. It did just work on both of our iPhones. So, there's clearly something amiss if you can't do it.

I’m think the OP may need to update his iOS version. While it was a server side update, I suspect they need to be at 26.1 or higher.

Hello~ Any help here?

Use your Digital ID in Apple Wallet - Apple Support*

• An iPhone 11 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 6 or later, with the latest version of iOSor watchOS.
• Face ID or Touch ID and Bluetooth turned on.
• An Apple Account with two-factor authentication turned on.
• An unexpired U.S. passport. 
• Your device region set to United States.

~Katana-San~

Capn_Pantelones wrote:

I have a newish 2024 US passport, iPhone 15 Pro on 26.1 and can complete the entire process without issues, including scanning the RFID inside the back cover of the passport. I took all the live photos as required and given my passport photo is only about a year old and I look the same, not sure why the process has failed now twice in a row with error “Cannot Add Digital ID. Your Digital ID cannot be added to Wallet at this time. For more information, contact Apple Support.” Of note, I receive the error back in about 1-2 minutes of completing the process.

Then you should do as recommended and contact Apple Support.

Spent too many hours today trying to get this to work. So many different configurations (different shirts, different lighting,different photo background, on WiFi, on cellular, with watch, without watch but, without watch but off). SO many times that I twice got a message that the phone was too hot to read the RFID chip, one wallet crash out, two motion

verification with disappearing buttons and one full out phone crash.) I'm pretty sure I've been blocked from the system so going to give it a few days for the system to release me. Send an email to the advisor from yesterday telling what I had done. Supper nice lady. I'd give her a shout out be don't know if that's OK. Anyway she replied back and said

they need to collect logs. Told her I can do it today and we set it up. They had me screen record trying to add the passport (it failed) and then collected the logs.

Now I wait.

I’ve been in the same boat—lost over 100 pounds, and Digital ID just keeps failing. I’m currently on the phone with Apple support. I really don’t want to go through the hassle of getting a new passport just to update my photo with my current weight, but it’s looking like that might be necessary. They’re escalating the issue now (opened a case), so we’ll see what happens. But I have a feeling that once they compare the photos, they’ll recommend updating it—especially since even the U.S. government suggests renewing your passport if you’ve had a major weight change since the original photo was taken. Ughhhh.

The Apple Advisor call this morning after the engineers looked at the logs. They know there are issues, have no idea what the problems are, and she said just keep checking for updates. A most unsatisfactory outcome. Apple is just using customers as both beta testers and quality and assurance testers.