Veteran ID Card Explained

The Veteran ID Card is a digital photo ID proving you served, intended for veteran discounts at restaurants, hotels, shops and other businesses. It needs no VA health care enrollment and no disability rating, which is what makes it useful — it is the only veteran ID available to someone entirely outside the VA system.

What you need to apply, online:

  • your Social Security number
  • scanned discharge papers — DD214, DD256, DD257, PHS1867 or NGB22
  • a copy of a current government-issued ID
  • a digital color photo from the shoulders up: white background, neutral expression, taken within the last ten years, as .jpeg, .png, .bmp or .tiff

Applications where the discharge status is unknown or uncharacterized take longer to process.

VA is unusually direct about the limits. It states the VIC cannot be used to:

  • prove eligibility for any federal benefit
  • access military bases or installations
  • access commissaries or exchanges
  • serve as identification at an airport
  • check into a VA hospital
  • show proof of retirement from the Armed Forces
  • show proof of wartime service for a special license plate

That list is worth reading before you apply, because it rules out most of the reasons people go looking for a veteran ID in the first place.

Who is eligible?

You must meet both:

  • you served on active duty, in the Reserves, or in the National Guard, including the Coast Guard; and
  • you received an honorable or general (under honorable conditions) discharge.

A dishonorable, bad conduct, or other-than-honorable discharge does not qualify. If that is your position, a discharge upgrade is the route that changes it.

Pick the right card for what you actually need. If you want commissary and exchange access on a service-connected rating, that is the VHIC, and it requires enrolling in VA health care. If you want ID that works at an airport, that is a REAL ID-compliant state license. If you want veteran status recorded on your state ID, that is a veteran designation through your state DMV. The VIC is for discounts, and it is good at that.

How do I apply?

  • Apply online through VA: There is no in-person route and no fee.
  • Scan your discharge papers first: DD214, DD256, DD257, PHS1867 or NGB22 are all accepted.
  • Get the photo right: Shoulders up, white background, neutral expression, taken within ten years.
  • Check your discharge characterization: Honorable or general (under honorable conditions) only.
  • Read the "cannot" list before applying: No federal benefits proof, no base access, no airport ID, no VA hospital check-in.
  • Consider the VHIC instead if you have a rating: It does more, but it needs VA health care enrollment.

Common questions

What is the Veteran ID Card used for?

Proving you served, in order to get veteran discounts at restaurants, hotels, shops and other businesses. It is a digital photo ID.

Can you use a Veteran ID Card at the airport?

No. VA states specifically that it cannot be presented as identification at an airport, nor used for base access, commissaries and exchanges, VA hospital check-in, or to prove eligibility for federal benefits.

Who is eligible for a Veteran ID Card?

Anyone who served on active duty, in the Reserves or in the National Guard, including the Coast Guard, and received an honorable or general (under honorable conditions) discharge.

Does the Veteran ID Card cost anything?

No. You apply online through VA at no cost, uploading scanned discharge papers, a government-issued ID and a photo.

Which veteran ID gets you into the commissary?

Not the VIC. That is the VHIC, marked SERVICE CONNECTED, PURPLE HEART or FORMER POW, which requires enrollment in VA health care.

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