National identity card is about to complete its mission after nearly 7 decades

Many changes

In 1957, in order to have a type of document issued to people for transactions, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam issued Decree No. 577-TTg dated November 27, 1957 regulating the issuance of identification papers and regulations on the issuance of identification papers.

Article 1 of the decree states: Now, "Identification Paper" is established to certify the identity of each person in daily transactions between private individuals and between private individuals and State agencies.

At that time, the ID card was issued to all people aged 18 and over, but initially only implemented in cities, towns and townships. "When conditions are favorable, it will be implemented in rural areas. In places where the issuance of ID cards has not been implemented, in daily transactions, people will use voter cards or certificates, letters of introduction issued by the local Administrative Committee," Article 7 of the decree stated.

This was the starting point of the national identity card in Vietnam. After 7 years, there were some changes related to this type of document.

In 1964, the Government issued new regulations, which added cases that were not eligible for issuance such as: People with mental illness, people who were being detained or under probation; people from 14 to 17 years old were granted identity cards.

"In 1957, I was 25 years old but had not yet been issued an ID card because I was in the mountains at that time. It was not until 1978 that I got my first ID card. After a few months, I received it and carefully kept it at the bottom of a rice chest with money and gold earrings. I only brought it with me when I went far away," said Giap Thi Tinh, born in 1932, residing in Ngoc Lien commune (Cam Giang, Hai Duong).

Ms. Tinh was from Yen The district, Ha Bac province (now Bac Giang province). She married a man and moved to Hai Duong nearly 70 years ago. Among her documents, the ID card that was first issued on August 3, 1978, with a missing corner, was still carefully kept by her even though she had been issued a new ID card.

In 1976, after 1 year of national reunification, the North and South also agreed on a common identity card, replacing the identity papers previously issued and used in the North and under the old regime in the South.

In 1999, the Government issued Decree No. 05 stipulating that citizens aged 14 and over are granted identity cards instead of 15 years old as stipulated since 1976. This time, identity cards overcame the disadvantages of being easily counterfeited, one person having multiple identity card numbers, duplicate identity card numbers...

By 2012, the Ministry of Public Security applied the issuance of ID cards using new technology, plastic materials, security, compact size, not broken, peeled, or chipped, and difficult to counterfeit.

In the history of this type of document since 1957, there is an interesting thing that few people pay attention to: the identification card in each province and city in each period has different initial codes (like car and motorbike license plates). For example, the ID card of Hai Duong is 14, Hanoi 01, Ho Chi Minh City 02, Ha Tay (old) is 11...

The identity card number is in principle unique, but in 2007, a rare incident occurred when about 50,000 people in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province had the same identity card number as people in Dong Nai province. The reason was that in 1979, the Vung Tau - Con Dao Special Zone police were allowed to issue identity cards according to a set number series. Later, Dong Nai Provincial Police issued people identity cards with the same number series.

Today, when the Law on Identification was born, officially taking effect from July 1, 2024, combined with modern equipment and information technology, the issuance of identification cards is faster and more convenient, without duplication, but what the national identity card has brought over the past nearly 7 decades is undeniable.

New journey of citizen identification

In 2016, the Ministry of Public Security issued citizen identification cards for the first time to replace identity cards. The cards are printed on hard plastic, have an anti-counterfeit stamp, and print a 12-digit personal identification number.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, born in 1950 in Cap Nhat 2 village, Tien Tien commune (Hai Duong city) was issued a chip-embedded citizen ID card from the first batch. "I don't know about technology but I believe that the citizen ID card is now very modern, has a lot of necessary information and is very beautiful in form."

Ms. Thanh added that in 1978, when she went to the market from Hanoi, she arrived at Dong Ngo Pagoda and saw a lot of people, they asked her to take a photo for her ID card. Ms. Thanh also lined up to take a photo and fill out her information. After a few months, she received her ID card. Since then, after several decades, she has always kept it carefully, considering it a souvenir.

In 2020, the Prime Minister approved the project to change citizen identification cards from magnetic cards to electronic chip cards to meet the requirements of administrative reform, e-Government development, and help people to carry out procedures without having to carry many documents at the same time...

The Law on Identification was passed by the 15th National Assembly at the 6th Session and will take effect on July 1, 2024. One of the important contents is to change the citizen identification card into an identification card.

According to the instructions of Hai Duong Provincial Police, the ID card has the same value as the citizen ID card. Citizens who are using a valid citizen ID card can continue to use it until it expires and then have to change to an ID card, unless they need to change.

With the highest standards of security, information safety and convenience, the ID card will be the first step to realize the major policy of our Party and State aiming to build an e-Government, towards a digital Government, a digital economy, a digital society to serve the economic, cultural and social development of the country.