page_title: Identity document
section_title: Hungary
hierarchical_section_title: Identity document / National policies / Europe / European Economic Area / Hungary
caption_attribution_description: English: Hungarian ID Magyar: Magyar SZIG
context_page_description: An identity document is any document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card, or passport card. Some countries issue formal identity documents, as national identification cards which may be compulsory or non-compulsory, while others may require identity verification using regional identification or informal documents. When the identity document incorporates a person's photograph, it may be called photo ID.
  In the absence of a formal identity document, a driver's license may be accepted in many countries for identity verification. Some countries do not accept driver's licenses for identification, often because in those countries they do not expire as documents and can be old or easily forged. Most countries accept passports as a form of identification.
  Some countries require all people to have an identity document available at any time. Many countries require all foreigners to have a passport or occasionally a national identity card from their home country available at any time if they do not have a residence permit in the country.
context_section_description: Currently, there are three types of valid ID documents (Személyazonosító igazolvány, née Személyi igazolvány, abbr. Sz.ig.) in Hungary: the oldest valid ones are hard-covered, multi-page booklets and issued before 1989 by the People's Republic of Hungary, the second type is a soft-cover, multi-page booklet issued after the change of regime; these two have one, original photo of the owner embedded, with original signatures of the owner and the local police's representative. The third type is a plastic card with the photo and the signature of the holder digitally reproduced. These are generally called Personal Identity Card.
  The plastic card shows the owners full name, maiden name if applicable, birth date and place, mother's maiden name, the cardholder's gender, the ID's validity period and the local state authority which issued the card. The card has a 6 digit number + 2 letter unique ID and a separate machine readable zone on the back for identity document scanning devices. It does not have any information about the owner's residential address, nor their personal identity number – this sensitive information is contained on a separate card, called a Residency Card (Lakcímkártya). Personal identity numbers have been issued since 1975; they have the following format in numbers: gender (1 number) – birth date (6 numbers) – unique ID (4 numbers). They are no longer used as a personal identification number, but as a statistical signature.
  Other valid documents are the passport (blue colored or red colored with RFID chip) and the driver's license; an individual is required to have at least one of them on hand all the time. The Personal Identity Card is mandatory to vote in state elections or open a bank account in the country.
  ID cards are issued to permanent residents of Hungary; the card has a different color for foreign citizens.
caption: Front of a Hungarian national ID card
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