"This is my I.D. for sure!" Ms. Tan Juan from Guang Dong tried to argue with airport security when the officer rejected her only an hour before her flight.
The officer told her that she looks too different from the picture on her I.D. so they can't let her board. "Thank god, I took my passport and birth certificates with me that can prove that the person on my I.D. is the same person standing right here. I really didn't' want to miss my flight."
"The person on the I.D. has small eyes and a wide face, the person standing right in front of me has big eyes and a narrow face, I really can't believe that this is the same person. I can't let her pass." The officer explained his reasons for the rejection.
Tan was taken to the back office for more questions. She then told the officers that she just had a plastic surgery last year and she didn't get a chance to get new I.D. yet. The officers reviewed all her other proving documents and decided that she was telling the truth and finally let her go. "I'm going to get a new I.D. right after I come back from my trip, this is way too much trouble, and quite honestly embarrassing," Tan said.
Ms. Jiang from Chang Sha had the same kind of problem back in August. She went to the bank to open a new bank account. However the teller refused to serve her because she looked too different than her ID picture. "I never would have known that losing 20 pounds would cause me this kind of problem," Jiang said.
Jiang told the teller that she looks different now because she lost a lot of weight over the past months. She even showed her some of her other identification documents to try to convince the teller of her identity. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to convince the teller to open the account for her. She had to go back home and get her birth certificate as the bank required.
Officer Gong, deputy officer of Exit-Entry Administration Bureau confirmed that people could use other identification documents when their primary I.D. is rejected at some occasions. However, it will depend on the situation specifically. For example, a bank might ask for different documents than an airport. He also suggested that people update their I.D. as soon as there is major change of their appearances, such as plastic surgeries, gain or loss of tremendous amount of weight etc.