Cristina Kirchner presented the new National Identity Card

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner introduced this afternoon the new National Identity Card on national TV.  She assured it would be 100% Argentine. It will be processed in five days and it will cost $15 (Argentine pesos).

“I am very pleased to have been the President who carried out this project, at a very good cost and everything from the state,” said the president.

The 16 year old renewal will cost 15 pesos, rather than the current $ 32 and it will be free for newborns. The applicant will receive the card by mail at their home within five days in Buenos Aires’ province and Capital Federal.

Along with the traditional paper identity card, it will also be issued a plastic card, for not having to carry the paper one everywhere.

For some procedures, such as voting and change of address only the traditional paper ID can be used. But the digital ID card is valid as identification for any cases. The National Registry of Persons (Renap) reported that the Government’s intention is to solve the current delay of up to one year and a half for delivering IDs.

Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said the new ID is “impossible to counterfeit. And he said that fake ID cards ”are part of the past. Its manufacture is equipped with the latest facilities.

Cristina stressed that the total amount demanded to realize this project was U.S. $ 18,062,000 and she pointed out the difference with what happened in the 90s, when Siemens was budgeted for 1200 million.