Job Discussion Forums

Elkythedogsperson · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:11 pm Post subject: Sending a Passport scan?

I am a US citizen. What are the concerns with sending a scan of the business/photo page of a passport with an initial job contact. There is a posting here on Dave's which wants one sent with the initial CV contact. I was hesitant to do so until I know more about the company/organization. I felt it's appropriate to do so once I have established it is a legit organization, but not at the initial contact.

Anyone care to weigh in on what you send when replying to a job post?

Dragonlady · Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:43 am Post subject:

deleted

out of date

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

I only send it if they ask.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Most of the time I wouldn't worry about security. What country was that from? Perhaps someone here can explain or warn you.

Seems odd to want such a thing for an initial contact. Send everything else and just tell them your passport expiration date and your nationality. If they are still interested in you because of your qualifications, that's different.

kingkristopher · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 62

Why would you be hesitant to send this, what could they do with the information page of your passport? A US passport is a very secure document, it's not like they could easily ounterfeit it. ID theft is extremely unlikely also. The only thing I can think of is that they'll prejudge you based on your photo. I always send my passport page with every application, whether they ask for it or not.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

People do prejudge you on photos, or where you're located. I had an interview, which consisted of the person trying to figure out HOW I had learnt English, because I was living in Peru and din't have blonde hair.

I've been turned down by other places for looking ASian, which is weird, since my fmaily's from europe.

I guess people don't like sending passports because of the personal info on it

Elkythedogsperson · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 4:44 am Post subject:

I did a bit more searching after making my original post. A favorite site of mine for entertainment reading is http://scamorama.com/ which mainly deals with 419 scams and such; fun reading if you're looking to kill and hour or so. They strongly advise against ever sending a passport scan, but then they are dealing mainly with folks who are out for nefarious purposes. In this age of photoshop, your scan can easily become someone else's for forwarding online.

The question has been posted here on Dave's before:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=39097

There was also a very good post at:

http://www.esl-jobs-forum.com/viewtopic.php?p=6928

which included a very good response from an English First recruiter.

Regardless, I found it strange for a posting to ask for a scan on the initial contact. I hesitated, but actually have good excuse as my passport is currently being renewed and my soon to be expired one is somewhere between here and the US State Department, so when the new on comes in a few weeks it won't be the one I have scanned already anyway. (sidenote: I have my passport scanned and sent to my gmail address so should it ever disappear while I am abroad I will be able to show a copy for replacement at an embassy.)

While yes, the odds of it being used for ID theft are probably small, I still feel heistant to send it on the initial contact.

I agree with what dragonlady said; look into them before sending. In this case the organization is legit, and I will forward a scan if the process moves further.

Thanks for you all's input.

Lhenderson · Joined: 15 Dec 2008 Posts: 135 Location: Shanghai JuLu Road

Just make sure you use a paint program to pretty up your picture for hiring reasons.

I fixed my nose, made my eyes bigger and by teeth turned from yellowish to white.

Got me quite a few contracts.

Lee