Vietnam is expected to bid farewell to physical residence books by no later than 2019 in favor of an online national database of citizens, according to a road map set out by the Ministry of Public Security.

The move followed a recent government resolution that approved the abolishment of the decades-old residential management method, which ties a person to a permanent address.

Currently, citizens are required to submit separate documents including their residence books, birth certificates or national ID cards when performing administrative procedures.

The upcoming digitalized database will provide the same amount of information stored in such documents, while only requiring a person to provide three simple details – their full name, personal identification number and place of residence.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, information on Vietnam’s nearly 93 million citizens will be stored on two data centers located in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

A high-speed data transmission network will be developed to connect all 63 provinces and municipalities of Vietnam, each with their own set of technical equipment to operate and access the online database.

Sr. Lt. Col Tran Hong Phu, a police chief in charge of the national database, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that local police divisions have already begun collecting citizens’ information to issue new personal identification numbers.

The new ID code is individually unique and in the form of a 12-digit number, and is attached to a person from birth.

As a citizen engages in administrative activities, further information including their marital status, address or driving license number will be added to their online entry accessible via their unique identification number.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, the online national database of citizens will be ready for official launch in late 2018 or early 2019.

Following its launch, the use of residence books and the old national ID cards will be replaced by the new identification numbers and new ID cards.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!