Key Points of the Law on Citizenship Identification

Law on Citizen Identification (CCCD) passed by the National Assembly on November 20, 2014, is the first law recognizing CCCD with many positive new points, contributing to the establishment of a standardized system of all Vietnamese citizen data.

Numerous Advantages

The Law on CCCD consists of 6 chapters and 39 articles, regulating CCCD, CCCD databases, and the national database on population; management and use of the CCCD card; rights, obligations, and responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals involved. The most significant new point is the regulation on CCCD cards, replacing the current ID cards.

Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Thi Mai, Deputy Head of the Department of Administrative Management on Social Order, Provincial Police stated: Essentially, the CCCD card is similar to the current ID card, serving as identification for Vietnamese citizens to validate their CCCD for conducting transactions within Vietnamese territory. However, the CCCD card also holds international significance when used instead of a passport in cases where Vietnam and a foreign country have signed treaties or international agreements permitting citizens of the signatory countries to use CCCD cards in place of passports within each other's territories. Notably, the CCCD card is not just an identification document like the ID card but also manifests all issues related to a citizen’s background and identification. Specifically, the CCCD card number is the personal identification number. The personal identification number is a unique code used to trace and distinguish one individual from another, established from the national database on population and assigned only once to an individual. Therefore, with this personal identification number, comprehensive personal information of the citizen can be retrieved from the national database.

Citizens only need to present their CCCD cards at the request of any competent agency, organization, or individual without having to provide any additional documents certifying the aforementioned information. Moreover, when registering civil status, individuals present their CCCD cards, which include their identification numbers. This regulation aims to minimize administrative paperwork for citizens, while also making administrative procedures simpler, more streamlined, and quicker.

Citizens Aged 14 Are Issued CCCD Cards

According to the implementation plan of the Law on CCCD, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requires sectors and localities to well organize the dissemination of the Law on CCCD to all classes of people, officials and public employees, laborers, and armed forces; to efficiently conduct training and professional skill enhancement for the workforce handling CCCD management, national database on population, and CCCD databases. Main contents include: disseminating the law on CCCD; conducting training and professional skill enhancement; reviewing and drafting legal documents to implement the Law on CCCD; ensuring conditions for infrastructure and human resources for CCCD management activities.

According to the law, CCCD cards are issued to citizens aged 14 and above, similar to ID cards. Children under 14 years old will still be issued birth certificates as stipulated by the Law on Civil Status of 2014. This is entirely consistent with children's right to birth registration, international practices, and the essence of issuing CCCD cards—when the identifying characteristics of an individual are relatively stable. However, unlike current ID cards which are valid for a continuous 15 years, CCCD cards must be renewed when citizens reach the ages of 25, 40, and 60. This regulation ensures a thorough scientific update on the identifying characteristics of individuals at different ages.

Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Thi Mai added: The Law on CCCD expands the authority to issue CCCD cards to various agencies and simplifies the CCCD card issuance procedures. Citizens can apply for CCCD cards at one of the following locations: the CCCD management agency of the Ministry of Public Security, the CCCD management agency of the provincial police, or the district police without any issuance fees. The competent CCCD management agency can also organize CCCD card issuance procedures at communes, wards, commune-level towns, agencies, units, or citizens' residences when necessary. Citizens have the right to request card delivery at other locations and pay an additional service fee for delivery. The regulations on CCCD card issuance procedures are much more flexible compared to the current regulations on ID cards, meeting the increasing demand for CCCD documentation from citizens.

To avoid affecting citizens currently using ID cards, the new law stipulates that ID cards will be replaced with CCCD cards upon citizen request. Moreover, legal documents already issued with information from ID cards will remain valid. The law also clearly stipulates the roadmap for transitioning from ID cards to CCCD, and the issued forms specifying the use of ID card information can continue to be used until December 31, 2019. Localities with limited information infrastructure, material, technical conditions, and CCCD management personnel will continue to implement citizen management according to the provisions of the law before the Law on CCCD takes effect; no later than January 1, 2020, unified implementation is required.

Source: baothuathienhue.vn

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