Vietnam’s revised electronic-identification rules take effect today, widening eligibility for foreign users and setting new terms for documents and social-security accounts in the VNeID app. Decree 320/2026 amends the country’s existing framework for electronic identification and authentication.
Foreign nationals who entered Vietnam legally or reside there lawfully may request an electronic-ID account without the previous distinction between account levels in the eligibility provision. Vietnamese citizens aged six or older with a valid identity card can request a Level 1 or Level 2 account, while younger children who have an identity card may request Level 1. Organizations established or registered in Vietnam may also request an account without a level distinction.
The decree defines a social-security benefit account within VNeID, the national identification app run under Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security. An account holder can link payment-account details, an e-wallet or a mobile-money account to receive support, pensions, social-security payments and other lawful funds. People completing administrative procedures and public services online through the app may receive fee waivers or reductions where Vietnam’s fee laws provide for them.
Another provision changes how integrated documents are handled. Agencies, organizations and individuals carrying out administrative procedures, public services or other transactions must use identity data and documents already available through the national app instead of asking a person or organization to submit or show the same original document or copy again. Access to someone else’s integrated information through the app generally requires that person’s consent, subject to specified representative arrangements.
Documents issued by connected authorities can be synchronized into the national identity system. The government lists 66 types of documents for individuals, including birth certificates, passports, visas, vehicle registrations and driving licenses, along with 140 types for organizations. Where an issuing authority is not yet connected, the identity holder can request integration through the app and the issuer has five working days to process the request.
The changes add to Vietnam’s wider plans to connect VNeID with regional border-checking systems and its broader national digital-identity program. VNeID already carries digital identity data used in government services; the decree expands how connected authorities can add and use those records.
Sources: Vietnam Government Gazette, Vietnam Government News
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
