Hungarian identity card

Hungarian ID card (obverse).

Hungarian ID card (reverse).

Hungarian identity cards are compulsory for Hungarian citizens from 14 years of age, although they may be obtained by anyone after birth. Since 1 January 2006, it is possible for citizens to travel anywhere within the Schengen Area, the European Union and certain other European countries (such as Macedonia^[1]) using only this card.

Currently, there are three types of valid identity documents (Személyi igazolvány, abbr. Sz.ig.). The oldest valid one is a hard-covered, multi-page book issued before 1989 by the People's Republic of Hungary; the second type is a soft-cover, multi-page book issued after the democratic change of the state. These two documents both have one, original photo of the owner embedded, with original signatures of the owner and the local police's representative. The third, accepted since 2000, is a plastic card, usually called a Personal Identity Card, with the photo and the signature of the holder digitally reproduced.

The card shows the owner's full name, maiden name if applicable, birth date and place, mother's name, sex and validity period, as well as the local state authority which issued the card. The card has a unique identification string composed of six numbers and two letters. It does not have any information about the owner's residential address, nor their Personal ID—this sensitive information is contained on a separate card, called the Authority ID. The Personal ID, which originated in the Communist era, is no longer used as an identification number, but only a statistical signature.

Other valid documents are the passport (blue or red, containing an RFID chip) and the driver's license; an individual is required to have at least one of them on hand at all times. The Personal Identity Card is mandatory to vote in state elections or open a bank account in the country.

See also

• National identity cards in the European Union

References

v t e National Identity cards By continent Africa Ghana Mozambique Asia People's Republic of China Hong Kong Macau India Indonesia Iran Israel South Korea Lebanon Malaysia Pakistan Philippines Russia3 Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Taiwan1 Thailand Turkey3 Oceania Europe European Economic Area & Schengen Area Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Estonia Finland France Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Italy Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Monaco Netherlands (BES) Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Other Europe Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Macedonia Moldova Montenegro Russia3 Serbia (Kosovo2) Turkey3 North America Central America Costa Rica South America Argentina Brazil 1 Officially the Republic of China, partially unrecognised. 2 Kosovo's declaration of Independence is not universally recognised and Serbia holds that Kosovo is an integral part of its territory. 3 Transcontinental country. Biometric identity cards () are indicated in italics.