Parliament debates major changes to ID cards

On June 10, the National Assembly discussed in groups the draft revised Law on Citizen Identification. The draft law has 7 chapters and 46 articles, of which 39 articles of the 2014 Law on Citizen Identification are revised and 7 new articles are added.

Regarding the content shown on the ID card, the draft Law on ID amended and supplemented in the direction of removing fingerprints; amending regulations on information on ID card number, the words "citizen identification card", hometown, permanent residence, signature of the card issuer to personal identification number, place of birth registration, residence...

Many contents on the identity card are expected to be revised.

The above change is to make it more convenient for people to use their ID cards, limit the need to issue new ID cards and ensure people's privacy. For issued citizen ID cards, they are still valid.

The draft Law on Identification also stipulates that valid identity cards issued before the effective date of the Law on Identification will be valid until December 31, 2024. Legal documents issued using information from identity cards and citizen identification cards will remain legally valid.

The agency drafting the bill said that nearly 80 million citizen identification cards have been issued to eligible people, so the regulation on the expiration date of the basic identity card has no impact on the people.

The draft Law on Identification adds regulations on the management and issuance of identification cards for people under 14 years old. However, the issuance of cards for people under 14 years old will be done on demand, while it is mandatory for people 14 years old and above.

According to the Government's report to the National Assembly on receiving and explaining the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the draft Law on Identification, with 19 million citizens under 14 years old, it is estimated that the amount of money the State and society must spend on some related documents is about 2,000 billion VND.

Meanwhile, the cost of producing each ID card is 48,000 VND. If 19 million children under 14 years old need ID cards, it will cost more than 900 billion VND.