Lawmakers yesterday passed the first reading of a bill that would eliminate the requirement that citizens be fingerprinted when they apply for a national identification card.
The change is part of a proposed amendment to the Household Registration Law, which will likely speed up the long-delayed issuance of new national ID cards.
In the past, the government has replaced national ID cards every 10 years. But the latest version, which was due to be introduced in 1995, has been delayed amid a controversy over whether to establish a national database of citizens' fingerprints.
According to the database plan, the fingerprints would be taken when citizens register for their cards.
A 1997 amendment to the Household Registration Law required all citizens over the age of 14 to submit their fingerprints when they are issued identification cards.
But the government has never implemented this amendment, blaming budgetary constraints.
The revision that passed its first reading yesterday aims to remove the 1997 amendment. The change states simply that citizens over the age of 14 must be issued national ID cards, and that children under the age of 14 may apply for optional cards.
The Ministry of the Interior, which proposed the amendment, said yesterday that it expects the legislation to be approved. The ministry says the amendment should pass its second and third readings before the end of the current legislative session at the end of this month.
If so, the ministry said the nation's citizens should receive their new ID cards in July. The operation will cost roughly NT$1 billion.
Opposition legislators agreed to the amendment yesterday but also said a national database of fingerprints should be established.
Opposition legislators said they agreed to the amendment so that the long-delayed issuance of new cards could be implemented as soon as possible.
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