The Albanian identity card (''Letërnjoftim'') is a national

identity card An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a documentation, document proving a person's Identity (social science), identity. If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). ...

issued by Albanian authorities to Albanian citizens. It is proof of identity, citizenship and residence. The current version is in ID1 format and

biometric Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...

. The ID card is compulsory for citizens over 16 years of age, costs 1,500 lekë (about €15) and is valid for 10 years.

History

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

issued identity cards to citizens until 1991, the year the

political system In political science, a political system means the form of Political organisation, political organization that can be observed, recognised or otherwise declared by a society or state (polity), state. It defines the process for making official gov ...

changed. For 18 years, in the absence of such a document, people were obliged to provide

birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the Childbirth, birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation ...

s with photos, which was considered inconvenient. In 2007, with assistance from the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

, a central population

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

was created. After that, Albanian authorities called an international tender for the production of identity cards. The tender was won by the French company Sagem Sécurité ( Morpho, Safran Group). Albania commenced issuing identity cards on 12 January 2009.

Appearance

The Albanian ID card is a plastic credit card size card. The front contains the bearer's photo and the following fields, written in

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

and English: *

Nationality Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation, defined as a group of people organized in one country, under one legal jurisdiction, or as a group of people who are united on the basis of culture. In international law, n ...

: ''Shqiptare/Albanian'' * Document number *

Full name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that ...

, including

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

and all

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

s *

Photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

(both printed and processed to

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations i ...

) * Date of birth * Place of birth *

Sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

* Personal number * Authority * Date of issue * Date of expiry (normally 10 years after the date of issue) *

Signature A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, Handwriting, handwritt ...

On the photo a micro-holographic reflecting stamp is placed. The back contains the machine readable zone. The

microchip An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

, visible on the back contains biometric data such as fingerprints of the holder, the image, signature, etc. The data can be extracted from the chip with wireless

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...

technology. The ID card serves as a

travel document A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international entity pursuant to international agreements to enable individuals to clear border control measures. Travel documents usually assure other governments that the beare ...

for international travel between a limited number of countries.

Issuing procedure

An Albanian identity card is requested at the local municipality (after paying the required fee; presently 1,500 lek or about €10 at the post office) where a digital picture of the bearer's face and

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

s are taken. The card can be picked up in person after about 15 days, when the bearer identifies themselves with their fingerprints.

Countries

An Albanian ID Card is accepted as a travel document by the following countries: * * * * *

Electronic services

Safran Aleat
under the concessionary contract offers eALEAT Services, which are the new identity services, on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), through a secure platform that provides identity trust to any electronic transaction, for which Aleat is certified by NAEC. eALEAT Services through the National ID Card offers to all Albanian citizens the following three services: authentication, authentication and data, and electronic signing.

External links

Aleat Official Website

* ttp://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2009/01/20/feature-02 Albania's ID cards key to visa regime, elections

References

{{Identity cards

Identity documents of Albania