When Your Date of Birth is Vital

When people cross borders and claim asylum without reliable identity documents, authorities still have to make fast, important decisions, such as who is this person, what route have they taken, do they pose any risks, and are they an adult or a child?

In theory, these questions are answered through documents and trusted records. In practice, many arrivals have no passport or birth certificate with them, some papers are damaged or not accepted as reliable, and links to records in another country may be slow or impossible. As a result, states lean on other methods: interviews, consistency checks, and biometrics such as fingerprints and photographs to link a person to earlier asylum applications.