Hungarian identity cards are compulsory for Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 citizens from 14 years of age, although they may be obtained by anyone after birth. Since 1 January 2006, it is possible for citizens to travel anywhere within the Schengen Area

Schengen Area

The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985...

, 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 certain other European countries (such as Macedonia) using only this card.

Currently, there are three types of valid identity documents (Személyi igazolvány, abbr. Sz.ig.). The oldest valid one is a hard-covered, multi-page book issued before 1989 by the People's Republic of Hungary; the second type is a soft-cover, multi-page book issued after the democratic change of the state. These two documents both have one, original photo of the owner embedded, with original signatures of the owner and the local police's representative. The third, accepted since 2000, is a plastic card, usually called a Personal Identity Card, with the photo and the signature of the holder digitally reproduced.

The card shows the owner's full name, maiden name if applicable, birth date and place, mother's name, sex and validity period, as well as the local state authority which issued the card. The card has a unique identification string composed of six numbers and two letters. It does not have any information about the owner's residential address, nor their Personal ID—this sensitive information is contained on a separate card, called the Authority ID. The Personal ID, which originated in the Communist era, is no longer used as an identification number, but only a statistical signature.

Other valid documents are the passport (blue or red, containing an RFID chip) and the driver's license; an individual is required to have at least one of them on hand at all times. The Personal Identity Card is mandatory to vote in state elections or open a bank account in the country.