Changes to the issuing of identity cards from 2 August 2021

On 2 August 2021, an Act came into force which, amongst other things, amends the Act on Identity Cards and the Act on Travel Documents; the following changes have been made: 

• All machine-readable identity cards (hereinafter referred to as ‘ID cards’) issued will contain a biometric facial image and, for citizens aged 12 and over, a fingerprint from each hand.
• Academic qualifications are not recorded on the ID card.
• It is not possible to authorise another person to submit an application. 
• It is now also possible to collect an ID card on the basis of a special power of attorney with an officially certified signature.
• No confirmation of the identity card is issued when reporting its loss, theft or misuse. Nor is any confirmation issued regarding changes to the details recorded on the identity card. 
• Upon collection of the ID card, the applicant is obliged to hand over their previous ID card. The administrative authority will invalidate it and, if the applicant so requests, the administrative authority will retain the invalidated card. However, this does not apply in the case of a forged or altered ID card. 
• Not only theft but also the loss of an ID card must be reported to the Czech Police. 

As of 1 August 2021, all previously issued BOKs (personal security codes) have been invalidated. From now on, providing a BOK will be optional – citizens aged 15 and over may provide it voluntarily. 

The validity period of identity cards will be as follows: 

• For citizens who, due to temporary indisposition, are unable to provide a fingerprint from each hand, the identity card will be valid for 1 year. 
• Identity cards without machine-readable data, valid for 1 month for the purposes of exercising the right to vote, will no longer be issued from 2 August 2021.
• Other validity periods for identity cards remain unchanged: for citizens under the age of 15 – a validity period of 5 years; for citizens aged 15–70 – a validity period of 10 years; and for citizens over the age of 70 – a validity period of 35 years. 

Expiry of an identity card: 

• An identity card now ceases to be valid immediately upon reporting its misuse, upon collection of a new identity card, or upon handing in a found identity card. 
• An identity card automatically expires 45 days after a change of permanent address, a change of name or surnames, a change of personal identification number (if stated on the identity card) or a change of gender. 
• If the identity card contains information on marital status, it automatically expires 45 days after a change in marital status (e.g. marriage, divorce, death).
• In all cases, the citizen is notified of the expiry of the ID card 60 days before it expires, either by a message sent to their data box or email, or by an SMS message (provided that any of these details are recorded in the Population Register).

The aforementioned Act has introduced certain amendments to the Act on Administrative Fees, whereby, for example, the processing of an application for an identity card for a person under the age of 15 is subject to a fee of 100 Kč, whilst the processing of an application for an identity card to replace one that is damaged, destroyed, lost, stolen, invalidated or containing unauthorised entries is subject to a fee of 200 Kč.