The National Assembly Standing Committee on Thursday discussed the Bill on Citizen Identification, under which “citizen identification cards” will be used to replace current “identity cards.” On behalf of the government, Deputy Minister of Public Security Bui Van Nam presented the bill to the committee in its meeting on April 24, saying that every citizen will be granted a citizen identification card in place of an identity card by 2020. Under the draft law, every citizen will be granted a personal identification number and a citizen identification card when they are born for lifetime use, Deputy Minister Nam said, adding that the number has 12 digits, three digits more than those shown on current identity cards. When cardholders reach 14 years old, their cards will be updated with their photos, fingerprints and other distinguishing features. Citizen identification cards will contain basic information about cardholders and such information – including blood type – will be integrated into a system to become part of a national residential database, to be set up in the future. The new card is a type of personal paper that confirms the identity of the cardholder and is issued based on the national identification database, Nam said. He added that every citizen can use such cards in exercising their rights and obligations without showing a number of other papers, including household registration books, certificates of birth and current identity cards.  “The new card will facilitate citizens in carrying out administrative procedures and civil deals. It will also help competent agencies to improve efficiency in citizen management thanks to the above database,” the official said. NA Law Committee Chairman Phan Trung Ly said it will create “a revolution in personal papers and citizen management.” If approved by the NA at its sitting in May this year, the bill will take effect as a law on July 15, 2015.Household registers to be abolished “Citizen identification cards” and current “identity cards” are similar in content but they are different in that the former are granted to citizens when they are born while the latter are issued to citizens when they are 14 years old, said Colonel Vu Xuan Dung, head of the public security ministry’s Department for Residence Registration and Management and National Residential Database. Justice Minister Ha Hung Cuong said that once all Vietnamese citizens are granted citizen identification cards and personal identification numbers, household registration books, which have long been used as a means of citizen management, will be abolished. In 2020, when a national residential database is made available, citizens will simply use their personal identification numbers or citizen identification cards in administrative transactions, instead of using many kinds of papers at the same time as at present, Minister Cuong said. In other words, the basic personal information of every Vietnamese citizen will be provided only through such numbers and cards – a practice that has been applied in many other countries in the world, he said. The use terms of citizen identification cards are calculated from the issue dates and as follows: 10 years for people aged 15 to under 25, 15 years for people aged 25 to under 70, and an indefinite term for people aged 70 or more, Deputy Nam said. As for people under 15, the cards will be valid from their birth until they reach 14 years of age, he added. The official noted that current identity cards can be used normally if they are still in its statutory validity period, which lasts for 15 years from the date of issue.

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