Deputy Chief of the Police General Department of Administration and Social Security under the Ministry of Public Security Gen. Tran Van Ve said the new IDs would be equivalent to the current 9-digit and 12-digit IDs (Chung Minh Nhan Dan), so citizens with valid IDs would not have to exchange them for new ones.
He noted that the new ID numbers would be associated with citizens' personal records and could be searched and retrieved from a digital database. In the coming time, Vietnamese ID cards may also be used as an alternative to the regular Vietnamese passport on the condition that bilateral agreements were reached with destination countries.
Hanoi that is one of 16 these localities will deploy issuing ID cards from January 1, 2016.
However, because of 2016 New Year holiday lasting in 3 days (from January 1-3), Hanoi police will start receiving records to issue new ID cards from January 4, 2016.
