VietNamNet Bridge – A new form of identity card will be piloted in Hanoi in the third quarter of this year before being introduced to all citizens nationwide in 2016, according to a circular of the Ministry of Public Security.

Current ID cards like this will be replaced by new cards with 2D bar codes.  (Photo: Internet)
New ID cards will be managed through a national database, which will help improve management of citizens, avoiding the current situation in which a person may have, by some oversight, 2 or 3 ID cards.

The database will also eliminate complications such as 2 or 3 people having the same ID number, said Colonel Vu Xuan Dung, deputy head of the ministry's Department for Administrative Management of Social Order.

Besides basic information about the cardholder, which is already present on the current ID cards, the new kind of card will also include information about the parents of the card holders.

Moreover, each new card will have a 2D bar code that stores personal identification details, including fingerprints. When an ID card with a bar code is exposed to a card-reading machine, all information stored in the bar code will be displayed on a screen.

When granting new ID cards to citizens, concerned agencies will withdraw their old ones and give them a certificate bearing their old ID numbers so that they can use them in resolving issues that are still related to the old numbers.

Procedures for obtaining a new ID card are very simple, since all necessary steps, including recording personal details, taking photographs of card applicants, and taking fingerprint samples, will be carried out automatically by special equipment, Dung said.

The fee for a new ID card is VND20,000-30,000 (US$1.44). In case a card must be re-granted, the fee will be VND60,000-70,000.

The Ministry of Public Security is working with the Justice Ministry to discuss the possible use of new ID numbers as citizen codes, which will then be used in a wider scope, not only within the police sector, Dung said.

If this is the case, confidentiality measures must be taken to ensure that the private information of every citizen is protected from abuse, the official said.

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre