Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko is holding a meeting on 25 January to discuss the preparedness for the introduction of diametric documents in Belarus, BelTA informs.

“The work in this field has been in progress for a long time. Now the government and officials are saying that information systems have been formed, necessary equipment has been purchased, awareness-building activities have been carried out. We are ready to start handing out ID cards and new passports even tomorrow. We just need to develop necessary legal regulations and sign a corresponding decree,” the head of state said.

Previously, representatives of the Interior Ministry informed that the ID card is a small plastic card featuring a photo and personal data of the holder. Visual information is similar to that featured in a passport – the individual's name, last name and patronymic, date of birth, citizenship, gender, number, type and validity date of the document, the card holder's signature. The other information (for example, the place of registration, information about children, marriage) is tied to the document virtually. The data can be read out with the help of a special terminal. People with an ID card will automatically obtain an electronic digital signature with a ten-year period of validity and an online personal account. The individual will have to activate the account using the ID card. This online service will provide the account history.

Using the ID card, an individual will have access to all online procedures.

An ID card is a domestic identity document. For foreign travel individuals will have to additionally obtain a biometric passport. This is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip which contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of the passport holder.