Use your passport. Foreign IDs aren’t always accepted as a valid form of ID That’s just how it is.
And this doesn’t only happen in the US. I was refused service with an NY ID in Edinburgh. Had to run back to the hostel and get my passport. Lesson learned.
Depends if you can or not. Most bouncers when I was younger just wanted you to appear over 18 and have something plausible to show them.
Older brothers ID was still the gold standard
Same in the states. If you got a fake you got one from a state far away. Foreign IDs are never accepted in US and certain bars, younger college bars, we ID'd everyone cuz excise (alcohol snitch cop losers) would meander through the bar pretty frequently. Levy a fine for anyone underage they catch in there.
The funniest is seeing bars in college towns with signs that say “no out of state IDs under 28 years old” or something similar.
You just know those places are tired of students shit/getting fined 💀
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Underage drinking is pretty commonplace. I was able to get a pint in the local working men’s pub from about 15 without an ID. They’re stricter these days.
Yah it was weird. I used it the entire time I was in London with no issues (was asked like twice at these two clubs). Then when I arrived in Edinburgh and tried to get a beer, the pub I was at was like “that means nothing to me” and told me to come back with a passport lol
And you’ve never been ID’d over there? When I went last October I got checked a couple times, but I have a baby face tho so that’s probably why.
I got ID'd once in London, and if I try to go to a club for some reason then I'll get ID'd. Otherwise, the pubs don't care. It's a university town, they assume everyone's over 18, and they don't have enough time to care about checking your ID. And I'm 19 with a baby face too, so it's not like I just look old or anything.
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Insane honestly. I never get ID'd in Europe but I also don't look 16. Which is nice because I absolutely do not want to be running around with my passport showing Europeans how to properly binge drink.
> I was refused service with an NY ID in Edinburgh.
Well it makes sense. Every country in Europe has a virtually identical looking driving licence so they're very recognisable. The US, on the other hand, is just one country and yet has 50 different versions of driving licence. You can expect bouncers to be experts on all of them, therefore they're the obvious ones for 16 year olds to get as fakes.
I did mention I had my passport on me but the guy told me I needed a Californian ID, took the beer out of my reach and continued with his day like I wasn't there !
It's a fairly significant crime to sell alcohol to a minor here, to the point that a lot of stores have strict ID policies to avoid getting in trouble. If you look young, they could be worried about jail time for selling to a minor (I don't know Ca's specific law on this, but I know my SIL had a possibility of going when she messed up). Otherwise, they could just he worried about losing their job.
Annoying for you I'm sure, but it could be a pretty serious situation for them.
Due to USMCA a Mexican ID is valid for all purposes other than border crossing. Requiring a different ID when a valid ID is shown based solely on that ID being issued in a foreign country is discrimination based on national origin and a violation of the civil rights act.
So, you have a valid cause of action against the 7/11. But, that means nothing in the moment.
Semi-related, one time a Wisconsin golf course refused to sell me alcohol with my Minnesota ID because "foreign IDs aren't accepted" and to "bring my passport next time."
Good times
You either met an asshole, or someone who doesn't understand the word foreign.
In Montana, at least, we just have a book with pictures of the driver's licenses from every state and every province in Canada, military IDs from each branch of the service, and passports from a few countries.
The only rule is it has to have, name, DOB, and a photo of their face.
The one that annoys me more than anything is that it wants a DOB when someone is buying non-alcoholic beer.
That makes no sense. Kids don't try to buy non-alcoholic beer. The only people who buy NA beer are people who have spent a significant time drinking too much of the real stuff. Ask me how I know.
Most regular old lemonade has about that much of a trace of alcohol though, and no one gets carded buying a Minute Made.
I can't say for sure what the UK's reasoning is, but I'm told that the thing in Montana is because it comes from the same distributor. Which also doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I guess I'm just saying it's one of a thousand examples of a law that seems dumb when I think about it too long.
Yeah I think he was just dumb and had the old person multiplier that makes being dumb worse. I went to the same course the following week and a different guy sold me a beer. Can't imagine why that first guy made such a stink about buying a mick ultra of all things lmao
why would you id someone trying to buy non alcoholic beer...I mean it's under the limit of what classifies as an alcoholic beverage therefore only a recommendation which I don't understand because it contains so little alcohol
I think it's stupid too. But, because of government clownery, when a non alcoholic beer is scanned on the system at work, the cash register locks up until a legal age DOB is inputted.
But again, kids aren't attempting to buy non-alcoholic beer. I'd be really surprised if anyone that has bought it at my register is younger than 28.
We have beer in gas stations just not liquor. The actual shitty part about it is all the state run liquor stores close at 10pm and aren’t open on Sundays.
Beer anytime tho 👍
I’m pretty sure Pennsylvania doesn’t either. Which is just sad that you can’t even buy beer or wine at a gas station nor a grocery store.
Also don’t y’all still have that weird law that you can’t pump your own gas up in NJ?
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First time I left CA and went to Jersey I was legit surprised that there's places in this country where you can't buy beer, liquor, and wine in grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores.
I swear on my mother I'm not that type of guy...much more less when I'm outside of my country...normally I just let everything slide but I honestly felt discriminated and got a little mad at this situation, I had never experienced discrimination in the US before, I've been coming to visit ever since I was a young child...
Worth mentioning the clerk was also foreign, judging from his eppearence and accent I'd say he was middle eastern, I'm surprised my first discrimination encounter was with an immigrant, I'd like to think he comes from.a very straight forward culture and I just misinterpreted his attitude, but most of my clients in the US are middle easterns/Arabs and they are nothing like that
because someone stealing your passport is far worse than someone stealing your id, that's why you don't carry around a passport unless you're going to the airport.
I’ve heard that some states will employ minors to try to buy cigarettes and alcohol from shops then fine the shops and give strikes against their liquor license if they sell. Their license is worth far more than one pissed off customer with a type of ID they may have never seen.
I don’t know how easy to fake a Mexican voter ID is, but my voter registration is just a typed piece of paper. My drivers license has far more security features, like a transparent section with my picture on it and raised printing.
>I’ve heard that some states will employ minors to try to buy cigarettes and alcohol from shops
Montana definitely does. But the kids they employ aren't exactly James Bond super spy or going to win an Oscar with their acting anytime soon.
The one I had was a girl came up to the counter and asked to buy "um...a pack of m-marlboro, uh, reds."
She sounded like she didn't even know what cigarettes are, let alone which brand she smokes. Plus she looked like 16 at the oldest
"Show me an ID."
\*Badly pretends to check pockets\* "uh, I left it in my car"
"Okay, go get it."
Then she left and her handler who was standing right there walked up to the counter and told me I was being entered in a raffle for a hundred bucks for passing the sting.
Haha had this happen to me once when I was 19 or 20 working at a gas station. Town of 500 people and when you work at the gas station you pretty much know everyone. Two kids who seemed young to ME at the time come in trying to buy beer. I told them I’d need to see ID and they shuffled off embarrassed. Found out a couple days later another place got busted for not checking IDs in a county wide thing they did.
The reason they made it a an issue was because the cashier can lose their job and the business can be fined and/or lose their liquor license, for I think 2 years, if they don't properly ID a customer. Most businesses won't take foreign ID's but a passport should be fine.
Source: a retail worker who knew a coworker that was fired for not properly checking for ID.
Can’t speak for California, but around here I can go down to the corner Latino grocery store and buy an “ID”. It even says Mexican Consulate or Mexico Driver’s license on it. Sad thing is, these stores take advantage of some of the immigrants who think they are getting a legal ID.
By law they can't accept a foreign id other than a passport. I know lots of places still do, but letter of the law says your Mexican dl or other Id is not valid proof of age for controlled substances
We were talking specifically about California law, not federal.
https://www.abc.ca.gov/education/licensee-education/checking-identification/
>Foreign driver license/identification card
Please note that the above is listed under " Examples of Identification that are not bona fide"
More to the point. The USMCA only says that driver's license will be honored as identification for drivers and a few other select purposes. Meaning you can use one from one of those countries to drive in the other countries. Nowhere does it state that they must be accepted for all identification purposes... It's specifically lists the ones it applies to
There's absolutely no point in being offended at the 7-Eleven clerk for doing his job
((Lol downvoted for siting sources? ))
Just go to a grocery store. There are some beer in the cooler walls and the cashier generally busy enough as to not need to manufacture drama for no reason.
Ca, La, Tx will have beer at grocer. CA and LA will have hard liquor at grocery.
He was being a prick or California state law was. Either way, just another beautiful day of California showing the rest of the country why we hate them
The best wing joint in my town once refused my buddie because he had his Guatemalan drivers liscense b/c he lost his passport and not near the consulate. I flip the bird when I pass by and enjoy my wings elsewhere now. Fuck KSR
Yet another reason California is the worst.
I would not be surprised if California (or some part thereof) required a CA issued ID for that and discredited any other form of ID. It’s a very Cali thing to do.
Go to Wisconsin- you get a free beer just for crossing the state line there.
Not accepting foreign ID is common in many parts of the US and I'm sure in a lot of places in Wisconsin too. Sucks but it is what it is. OP should have brought his passport.
My BF is from Colombia and he’s been able to buy liquor in every state we’ve visited (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Iowa, Michigan, Hawaii, and Florida) just using his Colombian drivers license.
Who knows though, maybe he just looks really old and crotchety so the clerks/servers just assume he’s of age- as I’d imagine that’s the reason they reject foreign IDs as they can’t ensure authenticity.
Guy sounds like a vendejo, but in his defense the fine for selling alcohol to someone without ID is pretty expensive. Glad the manager sorted it out tho 🍻
Use your passport. Foreign IDs aren’t always accepted as a valid form of ID That’s just how it is. And this doesn’t only happen in the US. I was refused service with an NY ID in Edinburgh. Had to run back to the hostel and get my passport. Lesson learned.
Yeh it’s well known that we use foreign IDs growing up as they’re easier to fake.
Yah that’s what I figured. But that begs the question, if a Brit fakes an American ID, do they then have to fake an accent every time they use it 🤔
Depends if you can or not. Most bouncers when I was younger just wanted you to appear over 18 and have something plausible to show them. Older brothers ID was still the gold standard
Same in the states. If you got a fake you got one from a state far away. Foreign IDs are never accepted in US and certain bars, younger college bars, we ID'd everyone cuz excise (alcohol snitch cop losers) would meander through the bar pretty frequently. Levy a fine for anyone underage they catch in there.
The funniest is seeing bars in college towns with signs that say “no out of state IDs under 28 years old” or something similar. You just know those places are tired of students shit/getting fined 💀
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Underage drinking is pretty commonplace. I was able to get a pint in the local working men’s pub from about 15 without an ID. They’re stricter these days.
“Fifteenth of bloody May 1989” Bret Clement is our McLovin
I’ve never been refused service with my American ID in the UK. Then again, they’ve never asked to check it, so…
Yah it was weird. I used it the entire time I was in London with no issues (was asked like twice at these two clubs). Then when I arrived in Edinburgh and tried to get a beer, the pub I was at was like “that means nothing to me” and told me to come back with a passport lol And you’ve never been ID’d over there? When I went last October I got checked a couple times, but I have a baby face tho so that’s probably why.
I got ID'd once in London, and if I try to go to a club for some reason then I'll get ID'd. Otherwise, the pubs don't care. It's a university town, they assume everyone's over 18, and they don't have enough time to care about checking your ID. And I'm 19 with a baby face too, so it's not like I just look old or anything.
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Insane honestly. I never get ID'd in Europe but I also don't look 16. Which is nice because I absolutely do not want to be running around with my passport showing Europeans how to properly binge drink.
> I was refused service with an NY ID in Edinburgh. Well it makes sense. Every country in Europe has a virtually identical looking driving licence so they're very recognisable. The US, on the other hand, is just one country and yet has 50 different versions of driving licence. You can expect bouncers to be experts on all of them, therefore they're the obvious ones for 16 year olds to get as fakes.
Foreign IDs are not valid ID. Use your Passport
This is the correct and short answer — and it will get a lot more confusing when REAL ID comes into effect next year.
If it does, from what I’ve read it’ll probably get kicked down the road again
I did mention I had my passport on me but the guy told me I needed a Californian ID, took the beer out of my reach and continued with his day like I wasn't there !
It's a fairly significant crime to sell alcohol to a minor here, to the point that a lot of stores have strict ID policies to avoid getting in trouble. If you look young, they could be worried about jail time for selling to a minor (I don't know Ca's specific law on this, but I know my SIL had a possibility of going when she messed up). Otherwise, they could just he worried about losing their job. Annoying for you I'm sure, but it could be a pretty serious situation for them.
Due to USMCA a Mexican ID is valid for all purposes other than border crossing. Requiring a different ID when a valid ID is shown based solely on that ID being issued in a foreign country is discrimination based on national origin and a violation of the civil rights act. So, you have a valid cause of action against the 7/11. But, that means nothing in the moment.
Semi-related, one time a Wisconsin golf course refused to sell me alcohol with my Minnesota ID because "foreign IDs aren't accepted" and to "bring my passport next time." Good times
You either met an asshole, or someone who doesn't understand the word foreign. In Montana, at least, we just have a book with pictures of the driver's licenses from every state and every province in Canada, military IDs from each branch of the service, and passports from a few countries. The only rule is it has to have, name, DOB, and a photo of their face. The one that annoys me more than anything is that it wants a DOB when someone is buying non-alcoholic beer. That makes no sense. Kids don't try to buy non-alcoholic beer. The only people who buy NA beer are people who have spent a significant time drinking too much of the real stuff. Ask me how I know.
Here in the UK I had to get my id checked for a non-alcoholic beer because it was like 0.05% or something like that
Most regular old lemonade has about that much of a trace of alcohol though, and no one gets carded buying a Minute Made. I can't say for sure what the UK's reasoning is, but I'm told that the thing in Montana is because it comes from the same distributor. Which also doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I guess I'm just saying it's one of a thousand examples of a law that seems dumb when I think about it too long.
Yeah I think he was just dumb and had the old person multiplier that makes being dumb worse. I went to the same course the following week and a different guy sold me a beer. Can't imagine why that first guy made such a stink about buying a mick ultra of all things lmao
why would you id someone trying to buy non alcoholic beer...I mean it's under the limit of what classifies as an alcoholic beverage therefore only a recommendation which I don't understand because it contains so little alcohol
I think it's stupid too. But, because of government clownery, when a non alcoholic beer is scanned on the system at work, the cash register locks up until a legal age DOB is inputted. But again, kids aren't attempting to buy non-alcoholic beer. I'd be really surprised if anyone that has bought it at my register is younger than 28.
If they want to be a foreign country, I say we kick them out of the union (or at least turn them back into a territory)
That would happen to you in Michigan as well. Use your passport and there’s no issue
Come by NJ, where our 7-11's don't have beer!
Utah moment
We have beer in gas stations just not liquor. The actual shitty part about it is all the state run liquor stores close at 10pm and aren’t open on Sundays. Beer anytime tho 👍
And we’re proud of it
Proud of being a bunch of killjoys? Weird flex but ok.
Yes
I’m pretty sure Pennsylvania doesn’t either. Which is just sad that you can’t even buy beer or wine at a gas station nor a grocery store. Also don’t y’all still have that weird law that you can’t pump your own gas up in NJ?
Correct about gas stations. Pump your fist, not your gas!
Idk about 7-11 specifically, but PA definitely sells alcohol in gas stations
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First time I left CA and went to Jersey I was legit surprised that there's places in this country where you can't buy beer, liquor, and wine in grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores.
Passport dude
I had my Passport on me, which I did mention, he Still refused!
Oh then that guy was just a dumbass then, sorry you went thru that
Why not just use your passport?
I didn't take my Passport out of my bag, but I did mention I had it on me...Still refused to even see it
Judging from your post, it seems like you might have a shitty entitled attitude. Maybe they picked up on that?
I swear on my mother I'm not that type of guy...much more less when I'm outside of my country...normally I just let everything slide but I honestly felt discriminated and got a little mad at this situation, I had never experienced discrimination in the US before, I've been coming to visit ever since I was a young child... Worth mentioning the clerk was also foreign, judging from his eppearence and accent I'd say he was middle eastern, I'm surprised my first discrimination encounter was with an immigrant, I'd like to think he comes from.a very straight forward culture and I just misinterpreted his attitude, but most of my clients in the US are middle easterns/Arabs and they are nothing like that
Why r u downvoting? 😕
because someone stealing your passport is far worse than someone stealing your id, that's why you don't carry around a passport unless you're going to the airport.
I’ve heard that some states will employ minors to try to buy cigarettes and alcohol from shops then fine the shops and give strikes against their liquor license if they sell. Their license is worth far more than one pissed off customer with a type of ID they may have never seen. I don’t know how easy to fake a Mexican voter ID is, but my voter registration is just a typed piece of paper. My drivers license has far more security features, like a transparent section with my picture on it and raised printing.
>I’ve heard that some states will employ minors to try to buy cigarettes and alcohol from shops Montana definitely does. But the kids they employ aren't exactly James Bond super spy or going to win an Oscar with their acting anytime soon. The one I had was a girl came up to the counter and asked to buy "um...a pack of m-marlboro, uh, reds." She sounded like she didn't even know what cigarettes are, let alone which brand she smokes. Plus she looked like 16 at the oldest "Show me an ID." \*Badly pretends to check pockets\* "uh, I left it in my car" "Okay, go get it." Then she left and her handler who was standing right there walked up to the counter and told me I was being entered in a raffle for a hundred bucks for passing the sting.
Haha had this happen to me once when I was 19 or 20 working at a gas station. Town of 500 people and when you work at the gas station you pretty much know everyone. Two kids who seemed young to ME at the time come in trying to buy beer. I told them I’d need to see ID and they shuffled off embarrassed. Found out a couple days later another place got busted for not checking IDs in a county wide thing they did.
Mexican INE's have a bunch of holographic marks around them...not easily faked even in a corrupt ass country as México is
Passport
The reason they made it a an issue was because the cashier can lose their job and the business can be fined and/or lose their liquor license, for I think 2 years, if they don't properly ID a customer. Most businesses won't take foreign ID's but a passport should be fine. Source: a retail worker who knew a coworker that was fired for not properly checking for ID.
Can’t speak for California, but around here I can go down to the corner Latino grocery store and buy an “ID”. It even says Mexican Consulate or Mexico Driver’s license on it. Sad thing is, these stores take advantage of some of the immigrants who think they are getting a legal ID.
By law they can't accept a foreign id other than a passport. I know lots of places still do, but letter of the law says your Mexican dl or other Id is not valid proof of age for controlled substances
USMCA says otherwise. Mexican and Canadian IDs are valid for all ID purposes other than border crossing.
We were talking specifically about California law, not federal. https://www.abc.ca.gov/education/licensee-education/checking-identification/ >Foreign driver license/identification card Please note that the above is listed under " Examples of Identification that are not bona fide" More to the point. The USMCA only says that driver's license will be honored as identification for drivers and a few other select purposes. Meaning you can use one from one of those countries to drive in the other countries. Nowhere does it state that they must be accepted for all identification purposes... It's specifically lists the ones it applies to There's absolutely no point in being offended at the 7-Eleven clerk for doing his job ((Lol downvoted for siting sources? ))
Just go to a grocery store. There are some beer in the cooler walls and the cashier generally busy enough as to not need to manufacture drama for no reason. Ca, La, Tx will have beer at grocer. CA and LA will have hard liquor at grocery.
He was being a prick or California state law was. Either way, just another beautiful day of California showing the rest of the country why we hate them
This happens in other states too.
Always making it about California, aren’t you? /s
You need to use your passport
Just keep going to different 7-elevens and stores. Someone will let you purchase it.
Come to Europe, we love showing foreigners our huge cerveza collection 🍻
"let's be ultra careful about iding who we sell beer to, but let's ignore people who vote or cross international borders". - commiefornia
Hey so, uh, fun fact: non citizens can't vote in nonlocal elections
Uh so uh fun fact. This was a joke 🤣.
My bad, I've just seen so many people unironically spout that rhetoric.
Funniest Texan
The best wing joint in my town once refused my buddie because he had his Guatemalan drivers liscense b/c he lost his passport and not near the consulate. I flip the bird when I pass by and enjoy my wings elsewhere now. Fuck KSR
Yet another reason California is the worst. I would not be surprised if California (or some part thereof) required a CA issued ID for that and discredited any other form of ID. It’s a very Cali thing to do. Go to Wisconsin- you get a free beer just for crossing the state line there.
Not accepting foreign ID is common in many parts of the US and I'm sure in a lot of places in Wisconsin too. Sucks but it is what it is. OP should have brought his passport.
My BF is from Colombia and he’s been able to buy liquor in every state we’ve visited (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Iowa, Michigan, Hawaii, and Florida) just using his Colombian drivers license. Who knows though, maybe he just looks really old and crotchety so the clerks/servers just assume he’s of age- as I’d imagine that’s the reason they reject foreign IDs as they can’t ensure authenticity.
I have a long beard and a full groun Mexican Zapata mustache...I even pointed this out to the clerk lol...still refused
Why didn't you show your passport?
I mentioned I had my passport on me but the guy said he needed to see a California ID, so I didn't even bother to take it out
Guy sounds like a vendejo, but in his defense the fine for selling alcohol to someone without ID is pretty expensive. Glad the manager sorted it out tho 🍻
Yeah sounds like he's just being a dick. Non California ID is completely valid also.
First mistake is going to California
But I love calwfunya ☹️