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Height and weight on card vs reality

posted by ronaldmcreagan 1 month ago 268 views 1 comments

How closely do the height and weight fields on a novelty card need to match the cardholder's actual measurements? The answer is less strict than most people assume, for an interesting reason.

How these fields work on genuine cards

On genuine driver's licenses, the height and weight are self-reported by the applicant. They are not measured at the DMV. This means genuine IDs routinely contain values that do not precisely match the cardholder's actual measurements — people round up height and round down weight, or simply report figures from several years ago. A genuine license that shows 5'11" for someone who measures 5'9" is completely normal.

Checkers who handle IDs professionally know this. They do not expect the card values to be precise measurements. Height and weight are used for rough plausibility, not exact verification.

What "plausible" means in practice

The values should be in the right ballpark for the person presenting the card. Someone who is clearly 6'3" presenting a card showing 5'7" is implausible. Someone who is 5'10" presenting a card showing 6'0" is in the normal range of self-reported variation. The check is categorical — does this roughly fit this person — not precise measurement comparison.

What to submit when ordering

Submit values that reflect how you would self-report to a DMV: your actual height (or slightly rounded up if that is natural for you), and a weight you would be comfortable saying out loud. Values within 20 pounds of your actual weight and within 2 inches of your actual height are entirely unremarkable. The precision anxiety around these fields is almost always unnecessary.

Height discrepancies attract attention primarily when the stated height is clearly implausible for the person presenting the card — someone several inches shorter or taller than what the card shows invites comment. Within a plausible range, checkers rarely measure and the stated values are accepted at face value. Weight is even less scrutinized because it changes frequently and checkers have no objective comparison. Keeping both values within a range that is realistic for your build resolves the practical risk entirely.

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Jimslong •

Honestly the height/weight thing trips up a lot of new folks. In my experience they're rarely checked hard against reality — what matters way more is your photo looking right. If you're just getting started, read the sticky first, it's a decent step-by-step tutorial and saves you a dozen noob questions. Also use the search bar, this topic's been covered a ton already.

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