Belgian national identity card

eID
Issued by	Belgium
Valid in	Europe (except Belarus, Russia and Ukraine)  Egypt French overseas territories  Gambia  Georgia  Jordan (through Aqaba airport)  Tunisia (organized tours)  Turkey
Purpose	Identification
Eligibility requirements	Belgian citizenship

All Belgians aged 12 and above are issued with an identity card (Dutch: Identiteitskaart, French: Carte d’identité, German: Personalausweis). Belgians aged 15 and above are required to always carry it with them unless they are within 200 m from their homes. (Foreigners must at all times be able to provide identification, either a passport, or an identity document issued by another EU member state.) Holders who are Belgian citizens are also entitled to use the card for international travel within Europe (except to Belarus, Russia and Ukraine) as well as to Egypt, French overseas territories, the Gambia,^[1] Georgia, Turkey and on organized tours to Jordan (through Aqaba airport) and Tunisia in lieu of a Belgian passport.

Use within Belgium

Belgians are required to carry the identity card and to show their identity cards when requested by:

• police;
• certain government agencies; or
• authorised bus and train personnel.

Physical appearance

All fields on the card are bilingual (English in combination with either Dutch, French or German) and the heading "Belgium / Identity card" in all four languages. The used language (and the one used first in the heading) depends on the official language of the place of residence (per the Belgian language areas), unless the residence is a Brussels municipality, in which case the holder may choose between French or Dutch, or a municipality with language facilities, in which case the holder may choose between French or Dutch, or French or German, depending on the local language facilities.

The cards are in credit card format (ID1) and contain a 3-line machine-readable strip on the back starting with IDBEL. The card holds the following information:^[2]

• Photograph of the bearer's face
• Names of the holder (Surname and first two given names, initials of further given names)
• Date and place of birth
• Sex
• Nationality: Belg (Belgian)
• ID card number, 12 digits in the form xxx-xxxxxxx-yy. The check-number yy is the remainder of the division of xxxxxxxxxx by 97.
• Validity period 6 years (for holders aged 12 to 18 years),10 years (for holders aged 18 to 75) or 30 years (for holders aged over 75)
• Signature
• Identification number of the National Register (each individual is issued a unique number for administration purposes). This number consists of 11 digits of the form yy.mm.dd-xxx.cd where yy.mm.dd is the birthdate of the person, xxx a sequential number (odd for males and even for females) and cd a check-digit.
• Place of issue

If the holder wishes, the following info will also be mentioned on the card:

• Marital status

Before 2005, the ID did not contain a chip, and the address of the holder was printed on the card. Currently, this is written only on the chip.

The ID card may be used as a travel document within most of Europe and several other countries (see above)^[3]

Belgian consulates still issue old style ID cards (105 x 75 mm, validity 10 years) to Belgian citizens who are permanently residing in their jurisdiction and who choose to be registered at the consulate (which is strongly advised).

The Cost depending on the Commune/Consulate is approx. 20.50 Euros (2015) with a 5 Year Validity

See also

• Belgian passport
• Visa requirements for Belgian citizens
• National identity cards in the European Union
• Passport
• document details on PRADO
• Citizen Card (Portugal)
• ISO/IEC 7816

References

1. ↑
2. ↑ Elektronische identiteitskaart
3. ↑ Reis Wijs - Reisdocumenten - Identiteitskaart

National identity cards
Africa	Egypt 8 Ghana Mozambique South Africa
Asia	Afghanistan Armenia7 Azerbaijan5 Bangladesh China Hong Kong Macau Cyprus 7 Georgian 5 India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Kazakhstan 6 Kuwait South Korea Lebanon Malaysia Pakistan Russia 3 Saudi Arabia Singapore United Arab Emirates Sri Lanka Taiwan 9 Thailand Turkey 4
Europe	European Economic Area & Schengen Area Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus 7 Czech Republic Estonia Finland France Germany Gibraltar 1 Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands (BES) Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland 2 Other Europe Albania Armenia 7 Azerbaijan 5 Bosnia and Herzegovina Georgia 5 Kazakhstan 6 Kosovo 9 Macedonia Moldova Monaco 2 Montenegro Russia 3 Serbia Turkey 4 Ukraine
North America	Costa Rica Dominican Republic
South America	Argentina Brazil
1 British Overseas Territories. 2 Open border with Schengen Area. 3 Russia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The vast majority of its population (80%) lives in European Russia, therefore Russia as a whole is included as a European country here. 4 Turkey is a transcontinental country in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. Has a small part of its territory (3%) in Southeast Europe called Turkish Thrace. 5 Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Georgia (Abkhazia; South Ossetia) are transcontinental countries. Both have a small part of their territories in the European part of the Caucasus. 6 Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country. Has a small part of its territories located west of the Urals in Eastern Europe. 7 Armenia and Cyprus (Northern Cyprus) are entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe. 8 Egypt is a transcontinental country in North Africa and the Middle East. Has a small part of its territory in the Middle East called Sinai Peninsula. 9 Partially recognized. Biometric identity cards () are indicated in italics.