More than 700,000 Romanians still have ID cards with tabs issued before 1997, but which are valid despite technological developments and changes in the ID card format. why Because the transition to a new format is not an obligation, but a choice, as is currently the case with the transition to an electronic identity card, says Catalin Julescu, head of the MAI Population Registration Office.

• “Yes, it is possible, since we are talking about citizens who have an identity card, that is, an identity document issued by the Romanian state before 1997.
• This means that at the time of 1997 these people were at least 55 years old. At the moment, it is reasonably assumed that these people are over 80 years old and have identification cards.
• It was not a legal obligation. Since there will also be no obligation to switch to an electronic ID in the future, it will only be an option, so these ID holders were not required to switch to this format.
• These citizens still use ID cards with tabs.” said Katelin Julescu, director of the MAI’s Census Bureau, on Tuesday.

More than 700,000 Romanians still have valid identity cards issued before 1997, and more than 13 million identity cards in the current format will expire by August 3, 2031, when the transition period to the new identity document format ends. Electronic identity card and simple identity card, according to the draft decree, which was adopted by the government on Tuesday.