Tribal ID Card Guidelines


We are pleased to announce that we have the capabilities to issue Tribal I.D.’s that have your photo on them. If you would like a “new” Tribal Photo I.D. please follow the guidelines below.

Tribal identification (ID) cards are issued by tribes as proof of your enrollment and membership in the tribe. A federally-recognized, tribal-issued ID card is also a valid form of government-issued photo identification in many places, though some places may be unaware of this. For example, a tribal ID card is valid at federal buildings, airports, and banks.  It is also proof of eligibility for certain services such as the federal Indian Health Service.

Note, however, that a tribal ID card is not valid proof of identity for every purpose , so you may want to check before relying exclusively on a tribal ID for any purpose.

Photo’s must meet certain requirements, including background, lighting, appearance, facial expression, and position. Below are some tips.

How should you take your photo? If you have a smartphone or tablet, you can use those. Have a camera? Set it up on a tripod or have someone else take it for you. Just make sure your face is squared with the camera and the tops of your shoulders are visible.

Photo should be taken with a solid (no patterns, objects, textures, other people, pets, trees, etc.) and neutral color background (such as white, light gray, or off-white). Be sure to make the sure that the background color is in sufficient contrast with head/hair.

The ID picture should be taken where there is good lighting (finding a spot with natural light would be best) and the flash can be used if necessary. You should avoid light that casts shadows on one side of your face or in the background. Make sure that there is no reflection caused by your glasses or accessories. Too much light or too little light can blur your face, resulting in overexposed or underexposed photos.

A small smile in your photo is okay, just don’t go too extreme with it. Remember that your shoulders and face should be square with the camera, keep your eyes horizontally aligned, head not tilted, and shoulders straight. Look straight at the camera with your mouth closed and both eyes open. If you have glasses, be sure there is no glare on the lenses (be mindful if you need to use flash) and your eyes are fully visible. If the frames obstruct your eyeballs, remove them for the photo.

Please adjust your hair and clothing to make sure that your full face is visible before taking your picture. And your eyebrows should not be covered by hair. There should be no hats, head coverings, sunglasses, earbuds, hands, masks, or other objects that obscure your face unless required for medical/religious reasons. If you are wearing a head covering for religious reasons, it must be plain, only in one color, and in contrast with the background of the photo.

Avoid wearing white, light gray, off-white, or black clothes, light colors could blend in to the background, but if you are fair-skinned, you could look very pale and sickly; wearing black is not advised for the same reason. Wearing makeup for your photo is acceptable, if you keep it natural. Go with nude colors and avoid bold options like red lipstick and cat eyes. Avoid wearing false eyelashes. If you typically wear lipstick you can choose a neutral shade or stick to lip balm which looks the most natural.

Additionally, you should not enhance your picture with filters.

Signatures should be recognizable and fit guidelines such as color and background.

In order to send us a signature you can write it on a piece of paper and either use a copy machine or camera and send us a picture.  Or you can also use an electronic device such as a tablet, phone, or computer write your signature and send it to us. We will not accept signatures that are typed using a signature font.

Your signature should be written in either Black or Blue ink with a heavy pigmentation. The background needs to be white with no lines or patterns. If taking a picture of your signature avoid casting large shadows by being in a well-lit room and standing opposite of or out of the way of the main light source.

Photo ID Submission

*We will not start officially printing cards until September *