The identity card (ID card) and the citizen identification card (citizen ID card) are very important documents to determine the identity of each citizen. When using an ID card/citizen ID card, people need to pay attention to the following 5 contents.
Article table of contents
First: Subjects to be granted ID cards/citizen ID cards
Pursuant to Article 3 of Decree No. 05/1999/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, Vietnamese citizens aged full 14 years upward and are residing on the Vietnamese territory (citizens for short) shall have to go to the police office where their permanent residences are registered to fill the procedures for the people’s identity card granting.
According to Article 19 of the Law on Citizen Identification 2014 of Vietnam, Vietnamese citizens aged full 14 years or older are eligible for grant of citizen ID cards and the citizen ID card number is the personal identification number. Concurrently, people’s ID cards granted before January 01, 2016 remain valid till their expiry date; and shall be renewed into citizen identity cards upon request of citizens.
Second: Validity period of ID cards/citizen ID cards
ID cards have the use value of 15 years after the issuance. Each citizen shall be granted only one ID card and have his/her own people’s ID card number. If there is a change or loss of the ID card, the procedure for changing or re-issuing another ID card is allowed, but the number written on the ID card remains the same as the number written on the issued ID card (according to Article 4 Section I of Circular No. 04/1999/TT-BCA(C13) of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam).
A citizen ID card must be renewed when a citizen reaches full 25 years, full 40 years and full 60 years. Moreover, citizen ID cards which are granted, renewed or re-granted within 2 years before a citizen reaches the age specified above remain to be valid until he/she reaches the subsequent age eligible for card renewal (according to Article 21 of the Law on Citizen Identification 2014).
Third: Use validity of ID cards/citizen ID cards
- ID cards:
Pursuant to Article 3 of Decree No. 05/1999/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government and Point 3 Section I of Circular No. 04/1999/TT-BCA(C13), the use of ID cards is as follows:
+ The citizen may use the people’s ID card as the personal certification and must carry it while on movement or transaction. All citizens must have the responsibility to bring their ID card and present it when the competent person requests inspection and control. The serial number of the people’s identity card may be used for recording in a number of other civil documents. Besides, it is strictly prohibited to counterfeit, erase, amend, base, lend, mortgage... the people’s ID cards;
+ In case of losing an ID card that has been reissued with another ID card, if the lost ID card is found, it must be returned to the police agency where the reissue procedure is carried out. Anyone who picks up another person's ID card must submit it to the police. It is strictly forbidden for one person to use two or more ID cards.
- Citizen ID cards:
Citizen ID card is a personal paper of a Vietnamese citizen which proves citizen identification of the card holder for conducting transactions in the Vietnamese territory. According to Article 20 of the Law on Citizen Identification 2014 of Vietnam, use validity of citizen ID cards is as follows:
- Citizen ID cards shall be used instead of passports in case Vietnam and a foreign country have signed a treaty or international agreement permitting citizens of the signatories to use citizen ID cards instead of passports in each other’s territory.
- When a citizen produces his/her citizen identity card at the request of a competent agency, organization or individual, this agency, organization or individual may not request the citizen to produce another paper to prove the information verified when declaring to make a citizen ID card.
Fourth: Cases of renewal or re-grant of ID cards/citizen ID cards
According to Article 5 of Decree No. 05/1999/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, the following cases must go through procedures for change of the people’s identity cards:
- The people’s ID card has expired;
- The people’s ID card is damaged and unusable;
- There is a change in the family name, given name, middle name, day, month and/or year of birth;
- The permanent residence registration place has changed to outside the province or centrally-affiliated city;
- There is a change to the identification particulars.
Concurrently, if a people’s ID card is lost, the re-granting procedures must be carried out.
According to Article 23 of the Law on Citizen Identification 2014 of Vietnam, cases of renewal or re-grant of citizen ID cards include:
- A citizen ID card shall be renewed in the following cases: A citizen reaches full 25 years, full 40 years and full 60 years; The card is damaged and unusable; Change of family name, middle name, first name and characteristics for identification of the card holder; Gender re-assignment or native place re-determination; There is incorrect information in the citizen ID card; Upon request of the card holder.
- A citizen ID card shall be re-granted in the following cases: It is lost; The card holder has Vietnamese nationality restored under the Law on Vietnamese Nationality.
Fifth: Violation of regulations on use of ID cards/citizen ID cards
According to Article 9 of Decree No. 167/2013/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, fines for violation of regulations on use of ID cards are specified as follows:
- A caution or a fine of between VND 100,000 and 200,000 shall be imposed for one of the acts as follows:
+ Failing to present ID card upon the examination requirement of the competent person;
+ Failing to comply with regulations of law on new issue, re-issue or change of ID card;
+ Failing to comply with regulations of law on recovery, temporary seizure of ID card upon the requirement of the competent persons;
- A fine of between VND 1.000,000 and 2,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the acts as follows:
+ Using the ID card of others to perform acts in contradiction with regulations of law;
+ Erasing or modifying ID card;
+ Renting, borrowing or leasing or lending the ID card to others to perform acts in contradiction with regulations of law;
- A fine of between VND 2,000,000 and 4,000,000 shall be imposed for one of the acts as follows:
+ Committing perjury, forging documents or providing untruthfully information and documents to be issued with ID card;
+ Forging ID cards;
+ Using fake ID card;
- A fine of between VND 4,000,000 and 6,000,000 shall be imposed for mortgage of ID card to perform acts in contradiction with regulations of law.
Ty Na
