Identity card of North Macedonia
The Identity card of North Macedonia (Macedonian: Лична карта) is a compulsory identity document issued in North Macedonia. The document is issued by the police on behalf of the Ministry of Interior.
Identity card of North Macedonia (Лична карта) | |
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Type | Identity card, optional replacement for passport in the listed countries |
Issued by | ![]() |
Valid in | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Eligibility | 15 years of age |


History
Before 1912, when the area of modern-day North Macedonia was still part of the Ottoman Empire, the residents of the region, like other Ottoman citizens, were required to hold Ottoman identity cards. The cards were known in Ottoman Turkish as nüfus tezkeresi,[1] or in Macedonian as nofuz (Macedonian: нофуз). After 1912, the territory that was to become North Macedonia was annexed by Serbia and became part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the identity documents changed again. From 1945 to 1991, when the present day Republic of North Macedonia was a constituent republic of Yugoslavia, citizens possessed Yugoslav identity documents. Under the Yugoslav federal system, each republic had its own variety of identity documents; in particular, Yugoslav identity documents issued since 1974 in SR Macedonia were printed in Macedonian, rather than in Serbo-Croatian.[2][3]
Physical appearance
The identity card of North Macedonia is a plastic ID-1-(bankcard) format. The left side shows a photograph of the face the bearer. On the top left corner of the front, the name Република Северна Македонија (Macedonian)/Republic of North Macedonia (English) in capitals, and below it the word Личната карта/Identity card is shown. The flag and the coat of arms are also displayed on the identity card. Every person over 18 is required to obtain an identity card. The cost for issuing the ID-Card is 310 MKD and is issued in 15 days.
Printed data

The descriptions of the fields are printed in Macedonian and English.
- Front side:
- Surname
- Name
- Nationality
- Sex
- Date of birth
- Personal number
- Date of issue
- Date of expiry
- Holder's signature
- Back side:
- Place of birth
- Permanent residence
- Address
- Authority
- ID number
- Machine-readable zone starting with IDMKD
International travel
The Identity card of North Macedonia can be used for travelling to and staying in some countries without the need for a passport on the basis of bilateral agreements:[4]
References
- Chris Gratien, Ottoman Identity Card; includes images of the cards
- Shaw, Jo; Štiks, Igor, eds. (2013), Citizenship After Yugoslavia, Routledge, p. 21, ISBN 978-1317967071
- "Zakon o osobnoj karti", Narodne novine, issue 54, 1974.
- In Montenegro only with ID cards Archived 2012-03-23 at the Wayback Machine
- "Visa regime for foreign citizens" (PDF). Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-27. Retrieved 2015-10-21.
- "Од денеска во Косово само со лична карта" [As of today in Kosovo only with an ID card]. Zdravstvo24. 2016-04-17. Archived from the original on 2017-12-26.
- "Overview of visa regimes for foreign citizens". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-10-21.
- "Macedonia". Archived from the original on 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2015-10-21.
External links
- Ministry of Internal Affairs - Republic of North Macedonia (in Macedonian)