Poland will have new national identity cards, which will be issued to people whose current ID cards expire on August 2nd, 2021, or to those who turn 18 this year. It will take 10 years to replace all the IDs with new ones. The new national identity cards will include fingerprints and handwritten signatures of the owner.
The Council of Ministers adopted a draft act adjusting Polish legal regulations to EU regulations on improving the security of ID cards in order to reduce the risk of document forgery. All EU member states were obliged to include in their documents fingerprints and handwritten signatures.
Only until August 2nd, will it be possible to submit an application to receive a new identity card electronically. After that date, anyone who wished to obtain a new ID will have to visit the office in person.
New IDs will be issued to people who turn 18 after August 2nd this year or to those whose ID cards expire after that date.
Over 1.5 million Poles are to replace their old identity cards with new ones this year, including 358,000 who turn 18.