Talk:List of national identity card policies by country

West Africa
Living in Ghana, I can add to the list of countries without a national ID includes Ghana. However, a project to fit all citizens with a card has been undertaken.

Moreover, I know that in both Burkina Faso and Togo, you have national ID cards and you are obliged to always carry it on you. I believe the same is the case for most of the West African countries.

194.255.107.83 14:57, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Random Categorization
There appears to be substantial randomness between the bottom two categories. Canada appears as a "non-compulsory identity card" country, while the US appears as a "no Identity card" country. Both countries have very similar rules on this front, wherein the federal government issues permanent resident cards and citizenship cards for naturalized citizens. Both federal governments also issue cards that may qualify for secondary (non-photo) ID in the form of Social Insurance/Social Security. I'm not sure which category these should fall under, but they should both be the same. 207.229.13.65 (talk) 19:08, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I note an argument above the natural-born citizens can obtain a citizenship card in Canada. I fail to see how this is different from the US ability to obtain a national passport or NEXUS card if they so desire. - 207.229.13.65 (talk) 19:09, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Brazil
The article says you are required to carry your ID card in Brazil, but this is not true. (Asking for your ID card is, however, an extremely common abusive practice of police officers, specially against poor or black people.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.35.27.143 (talk) 02:27, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

Distinguish between compulsory ID card and compulsory proof of ID
The article should make a clear distinction between the compulsory carrying of, specifically, an ID card, and the compulsory proof of ID using just any accepted identity document – possibly a passport or driver's licence. Unfortunately, it doesn't. The title suggests that the former is the topic (ID cards), but the actual content of the article is more concerned with the latter (proof of identity). In my opinion it would serve clarity if we move it to the title Proof-of-identity policies by country. --Lambiam 09:10, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

New Zealand drivers licence = ID but what of non-drivers?
The current text seems unlikely, however it is true (there is no national identity card for New Zealanders): New Zealand: There are no national identity cards, however the New Zealand driver license is the de facto national identity card to certify a person's identity or age. A passport, or birth certificate in conjunction with a driver license, is needed as proof of citizenship. What about people without a drivers licence? Even if NZ has a high rate of drivers licence ownership, I can't believe it's over 95%, and I can't believe that more than 5% of the population have no means to identify themself.

And what happens if the police/courts confiscate someone's drivers licence?

The second sentence says that a passport is not enough, it has to be "in conjuction with a drivers licence", but I find that hard to believe. Does the NZ government really not accept its own passports as a proof of identity? Does tourists really need to have a drivers licence in addition to their passport?

This text just seems too ridiculous to be true. Can someone fix it? Gronky (talk) 11:02, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

A HANZ 18+ card is NOT a national identity card it only works for some things in New Zealand.
 * I found this source, a bank, which says "Prove your ID with:"
 * A valid New Zealand passport.
 * Or one of New Zealand Certificate of Identity, New Zealand firearms license, overseas passport, emergency travel document, foreign-issued national identity document, or New Zealand refugee travel document.
 * Or a valid New Zealand drivers licence plus a NZ bank issued card with your name on it.
 * Instead of a NZ bank issued card, these can be used: New Zealand full birth certificate, certificate of New Zealand citizenship, citizenship certificate offered by a foreign government, full birth certificate issued by a foreign government.
 * The NZ Transport Agency requires a passport or a drivers licence or two documents from a long list.
 * It seems that NZ citizens without a NZ drivers licence need to use the passport. The requirement vary so sometimes other documents are accepted, for example an 18+ card.--BIL (talk) 19:33, 5 April 2016 (UTC)

I can confirm as a non-driver in NZ the only national identification we have is a passport and its very unreliable as of 30/01/22 -Some Kiwi

United States passport card not a national identity card
The article currently lists the United States as a country with a national identity card -- specifically, the passport card.

But the passport card is not a national identity card, as that term is used in the article. International law scholars and federal government documents clearly indicate that the passport card is merely a U.S. passport in card format:

Card Format Passport; Changes to Passport Fee Schedule, 71 FR 60928

Digest of United States Practice in International Law 2006 (Oxford University Press)



I suggest moving the U.S. from the subsection:

"Countries with non-compulsory identity cards"

to

"Countries with no identity cards" Infoman99 (talk) 01:34, 26 October 2013 (UTC)
 * How to define "national identity card" ? In my opinion it is an identity card with photo, usable as identity card inside the country, issued by an authority, and which states citizenship. And the US passport card follows these principles. --BIL (talk) 08:19, 26 October 2013 (UTC)

In the past few years state drivers licenses can, upon renewal and proof of identity (birth certificate, passport), be marked as valid federal ID. In Connecticut, this results in a star symbol being added to the new license in the upper right hand corner. Even though this has been in effect for at least five years, the feature is not commonly known. 69.121.226.166 (talk) 14:52, 29 January 2017 (UTC)

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Should the article be renamed
In some states identity documents are not cards but passports carrying the same or more information, for example in Russian Federation. Maybe the article should be renamed by replacing the word `card` with the word `document`. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.92.113.239 (talk) 16:33, 11 February 2018 (UTC)

Naming conventions
For your information: Talk:Ghana Card.

83.228.160.33 (talk) 19:37, 17 July 2018 (UTC).

Eswatini
From what I know, in Eswatini, it is mandatory to have an ID card for everyone 16 years old and above. Ludvonga (talk) 03:09, 5 September 2019 (UTC)

Religion and ethnicity on national ID cards
Hello friends! Would like to see you guys add a discussion on how certain countries (e.g. Indonesia, Pakistan) use religious affiliation as a basis for discrimination and oppression of minorities. Thanks! 207.195.72.67 (talk) 20:31, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

Ghana 46.166.63.48 (talk) 14:53, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

Karina
Free fire developer server login 160.178.57.142 (talk) 16:23, 16 August 2023 (UTC)

Clarification on compulsory
I think the countries in the article should be split into 5 sections:


 * 1) Compulsory to possess an ID cards and to be carried on person at all times
 * 2) Compulsory to possess an ID card
 * 3) Compulsory to possess some form of ID
 * 4) Voluntary ID cards available
 * 5) No ID cards are available

Currently each country has varying degrees of compulsion, and an explicitly an ID card as such is not compulsory (passport is sufficient). Drumstick21 (talk) 20:32, 15 October 2023 (UTC)

Nicaragua
The word "Nicaragua" does not appear in this article. What is their policy? 2001:A62:1466:9F02:79D8:ECA6:42DE:C5AA (talk) 20:44, 6 March 2024 (UTC)

Marshall Islands
Any information on the Marshallese national identity card would be welcome and truly appreciated.