The digital photo-signature system now used to create or renew driving licenses is very practical. But it conceals a little-known and sneaky trap.
Many administrative procedures have been modernized in recent years and can now be carried out entirely online. This is particularly the case for the issuance of a driving license, the application for which is now exclusively through the website of the National Agency for Secure Titles, the famous ANTS, recently renamed France Titres.
Following the obtaining of the precious sesame, or in the event of renewal to switch to the new credit card format which replaces the old pink paper, the request for the production and dispatch of the driving license is now carried out entirely electronically. Even the identity photo, mandatory for any official identity document, can be transmitted in digital form.
This electronic photo, also called a “digital photo signature”, can be obtained in a booth marked ” ANTS online services approved “, or after a professional photographer, also approved by ANTS. In either case, in addition to the printed version, an electronically signed digital copy is generated and stored on a secure server.
The paper print of the photos then contains a 22-character alphanumeric code, which can be used when requesting an official document. Thus, when requesting the issue of a driving license on the France Titres-ANTS website, it is not necessary to scan a paper photo or send it by mail to the agency. Simply enter the code indicated on the print to finalize the process.
But be careful, as practical and quick as it is, this method has a major constraint: the digital photo signature code is only valid once! Although the code can be used up to six months after the photo is taken, it can only be used for one online procedure with France Titres, which also generates a lot of incomprehension and dissatisfaction on the part of users.
So, as part of the driving test, you will need to provide a first photo in ANTS format to pass the highway code test, and a second for the production of the license itself. You will have to go to the checkout twice to obtain a single-use code for each of the photos, knowing that each ANTS-certified photo generally costs between 4 and 12 euros…
Worse still, if the application is rejected by the administration, the code of the digital photo used will still be considered as “consumed”! It is therefore impossible to use it again for a new application, even if the rejection of the first one does not concern the photo at all.
To avoid this mishap, carefully check your file before validating an application on the ANTS website, in order to avoid a rejection due to incorrect information or missing supporting documents. And if despite these precautions your application is rejected, you will then only have two solutions: pay to obtain a new digital photo code… or cut out one of the printed photos and send it to France Titres by post, like in the good old days of paper.