PARLIAMENT APPROVES TRANSITION TO NEW IDENTITY DOCUMENTS FROM 2025

Parliament has approved the transition to new identity documents starting from 2025. As reported by INFOTAG, 79 deputies from both the ruling party and opposition voted for the amendments to the law on identity documents of the national passport system during the parliamentary session on Thursday.

According to the document, the current identity card will be replaced by a personal identification card (cartea de identitate). For foreigners, a residence card (cartea de rezidență) will be introduced, securing rights and state protection in accordance with the law.

The new document will contain biometric data as well as electronic signature data. The new identity documents will be in Romanian and English. They will no longer contain information about the owner's permanent or temporary residence, as this information will be accessible through the government platform MConnect. Therefore, owners will no longer be required to change their identity documents when changing their place of residence.

The card will facilitate better interaction with digital government services. Eventually, the new documents may be used as travel documents in countries that recognize them for this purpose (for example, in European Union member states). Currently, Moldovan citizens can travel to Turkey and Ukraine based solely on their identity cards.