Dutch identity card
Encyclopedia
The Dutch identity card is an official non-compulsory identity document
issued to Dutch nationals in the European part of the Netherlands
and certain diplomatic missions. It has similar dimensions and structure as that of a regular bank card
.
when the police or other supervisors ask for identification. The identity card is commonly used for this purpose, but other identity documents such as a passport
or driving licence may be used instead.
The Dutch identity card is also a valid means of personal identification in a number of countries outside the Netherlands and may be used as a travel document
in those countries in place of a Dutch passport
.
As of 26 August 2006, newly issued identity cards are provided with a chip
containing (among others) the photograph, full name, date of birth, sex, document number, personal number, date of expiry, and since 28 June 2009 also two fingerprint
s of the holder. The chip has been included due to European regulations.
within all member states of the European Union (including the Azores
, the Canary Islands
and Madeira
), as well as Andorra
, Iceland
, Liechtenstein
, Monaco
, Norway
, San Marino
, Switzerland
, Turkey
, and (although not explicitly stated on the card) Albania
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
, Croatia
, Macedonia
, Montenegro
, Serbia
and Vatican City
. It is also valid in the Channel Islands
.
Validity in these countries (except Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) is based on membership of the European Union
and the implementation of the "European Agreement on Regulations governing the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council of Europe
".
Since the document is defined within the Dutch Passport Law (Paspoortwet) as a "travel document of the European part of the Netherlands" rather than a "travel document of the Kingdom", the identity card is not issued or valid in Aruba
, Curaçao
, Sint Maarten and the BES islands
.
An identity card is normally valid for a period of 5 years.
countries which acceded in 2004
and 2007
). The card contained also information on the bearer's address and had fields in English, Dutch and French. After introduction of the Dutch identity card, existing European identity cards remained valid until expiry.
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
issued to Dutch nationals in the European part of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and certain diplomatic missions. It has similar dimensions and structure as that of a regular bank card
ISO 7810
ISO/IEC 7810 Identification cards — Physical characteristics is an international standard that defines the physical characteristics for identification cards.-Card sizes:The standard defines four card sizes: ID-1, ID-2, ID-3 and ID-000.-ID-1:...
.
Use
All Dutch citizens from the age of 14 are required to be able to show a valid identity documentIdentity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
when the police or other supervisors ask for identification. The identity card is commonly used for this purpose, but other identity documents such as a passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
or driving licence may be used instead.
The Dutch identity card is also a valid means of personal identification in a number of countries outside the Netherlands and may be used as a travel document
Travel document
A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international treaty organization to facilitate the movement of individuals or small groups of persons across international boundaries...
in those countries in place of a Dutch passport
Dutch passport
A Dutch passport is issued to citizens of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the purpose of international travel. As the Netherlands only distinguish one category of citizen , for all countries in the Kingdom, passports are the same for all four countries...
.
Identity information
A Dutch identity card includes the following information about the holder and the document (with fields in English and Dutch):- Nationality: Nederlandse (Dutch)
- Document number
- Full name, including surname and all given names
- Photograph (both printed and processed to watermarkWatermarkA watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...
) - Date of birth
- Place of birth
- Height
- Sex
- Personal number
- Authority (the authority who issued the concerning identity card, commonly the mayor of the municipality of residence; for example "Burgemeester van Utrecht")
- Date of issue
- Date of expiry (normally 5 years after the date of issue)
- Signature
As of 26 August 2006, newly issued identity cards are provided with a chip
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
containing (among others) the photograph, full name, date of birth, sex, document number, personal number, date of expiry, and since 28 June 2009 also two fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
s of the holder. The chip has been included due to European regulations.
Validity
The Dutch identity card is a valid travel documentTravel document
A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international treaty organization to facilitate the movement of individuals or small groups of persons across international boundaries...
within all member states of the European Union (including the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
, the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
and Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
), as well as Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
, Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, San Marino
San Marino
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino , is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and (although not explicitly stated on the card) Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
. It is also valid in the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
.
Validity in these countries (except Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) is based on membership of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and the implementation of the "European Agreement on Regulations governing the Movement of Persons between Member States of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
".
Since the document is defined within the Dutch Passport Law (Paspoortwet) as a "travel document of the European part of the Netherlands" rather than a "travel document of the Kingdom", the identity card is not issued or valid in Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
, Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, Sint Maarten and the BES islands
BES islands
The Caribbean Netherlands collectively refers to the three special municipalities of the Netherlands that are located overseas, in the Caribbean: Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba...
.
An identity card is normally valid for a period of 5 years.
European identity card
Before the introduction of the Dutch identity card (1 October 2001) on creditcard-format, an ID2-format European identity card was issued. This card was machine-readable as well and was valid for the same group of countries (but not for 11 out of 12 EUEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
countries which acceded in 2004
2004 enlargement of the European Union
The 2004 enlargement of the European Union was the largest single expansion of the European Union , both in terms of territory, number of states and population, however not in terms of gross domestic product...
and 2007
2007 enlargement of the European Union
The 2007 enlargement of the European Union saw Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union on 1 January 2007. It was the latest expansion of the EU, though considered by the European Commission as part of the same wave as the 2004 enlargement of the European Union.-Negotiations:Romania was the...
). The card contained also information on the bearer's address and had fields in English, Dutch and French. After introduction of the Dutch identity card, existing European identity cards remained valid until expiry.