Being asked for my ID Card as part of a project application
Samuel Murray Netherlands Local time: 22:28 Member (2006) English to Afrikaans + ...
Hairdresser etc
Jan 26
JMDDipTrans wrote:
Not only your ID, I would also not give them a scanned copy of proof of education and/or qualifications. Do your customers ever ask their hairdresser, dentist, tailor or plumber for proof of professional qualifications?
If the hairdresser, dentist, tailor etc work from home and I send them my hair, teeth, or fabric by mail, I would certainly insist on some proof of qualification. Otherwise, you know that these three are who they say they are because you typically visit them at their business premises.
In the case of the dentist, his degree certificate is posted on the wall of his office somewhere. The hairdresser is real because no other hairdresser would work in the same shop as someone who is not qualified or very good.
As for the plumber, who usually comes to your house and typically looks rather scruffy, a trade school certificate would be nice to see but usually people just assume anyone with plumbing tools who says that he is a plumber and who seems to talk sense about your pipes must be a plumber.
I think your VAT tax ID is proof enough.
The VAT number is zero proof. If the VAT number isn't mentioned somewhere official where any member of the public can access the record (e.g. the country's company registry), then there is no way that a client can verify that your VAT number is indeed your VAT number. They can use a web site to validate that the VAT number is valid, but not to find out to whom it belongs.
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
OK, if the ID is necessary for an EU tender, we must ask the agency for an contract stating that they will ask us first whenever they receive actual work for that tender. The contract should also state that, should the tender be a fail, they will destroy all copies of any documents we might have provided as part of the tender process, along with all personal information (except name, telephone and email address perhaps) and will confirm such destruction in writing upon our request.
This is valuable advice. I didn't do this once, and when the agency won the EU tender, they asked me to lower the rates we had explicitly agreed on before. When I refused, they said that they would not be able to send me many jobs. Of course, they didn't send a single one.
When next time, with a different agency, I asked for things like the ones mentioned above, the agency backed off and wasn't interested in the end. I don't think that I will ever work on an EU tender. It's just too much hassle, and the chances of really getting the jobs are too small.
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John Fossey Canada Local time: 16:28 Member (2008) French to English
What ID card?
Jan 26
Precisely what ID card do they want? Passport? Driver's license? While some countries require every resident to have an "ID Card", Canada does not. If someone never travels outside the country and only takes public transport, they won't necessarily have either.
There's no "business registration certificate" in Quebec - to eliminate forgery there's only the online company registry, there are no "business registration papers". In fact, a professional practicing in his own name is not even required to register. And below a certain annual threshold of domestic sales there's no requirement for registering for GST (our VAT).
Medicare card? It specifically says it's not to be used as ID.
When I've been asked for my "ID" I've just said it's not required in my country and the questions seem to go away.
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Maria Ramon United States Local time: 15:28 Member (2008) Dutch to English + ...
I know who this agency is ...
Jan 27
I received the same request and told them that I would certainly NOT provide them with my ID card, ever! and I asked them why they would need it anyway?
The reply was :
"We need a copy of your ID card because unfortunately we had previous experiences when some candidates lied about their names and native language and country. I hope you can understand we have to see you really exist and that you are who you say you are. If you are not comfortable with sending a copy of your ID card then you could send me any copy of the documents that can confirm your identity (like passport or driver license)".
A passport and driver's license are not ID cards?
They also have unacceptable provisions in their agreement, SLA and whatever else.
I haven't heard from them since; this was a couple of weeks ago.
Beware!!!
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Therrien Canada Local time: 16:28 Member (2010) English to French + ...
TOPIC STARTER
All this is very interesting...
Jan 27
Two very distinct points of view.
I've scanned my passport and blacked out everything else than the name.
It's a win-win, I think.
Honestly, it freaked me out. Many an agency asks me for a resume and a test and that's that. I've had to answer questions like "Have you ever lived outside of your home country and if so, how long".
What in the world... Why!? How does that ever apply to translating fruit juice covers or operating systems or articles.
I haven't heard a thing from the client though. How wasteful of a translator's time.
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