Identity document
Other forms of officially accepted identification include the driver's license and the birth certificate. However, these are accepted only in limited circumstances and cannot take the place of the ID Card in most cases. The ID Card is mandatory for dealing with government institutions, banks or currency exchange shops. A valid passport may also be accepted, but usually only for foreigners.
Identity document
Currently, there are three types of valid ID documents ("Személyazonosító igazolvány", née "Személyi igazolvány", abbr. "Sz.ig.") in Hungary: the oldest valid ones are hard-covered, multi-page booklets and issued before 1989 by the People's Republic of Hungary, the second type is a soft-cover, multi-page booklet issued after the change of regime; these two have one, original photo of the owner embedded, with original signatures of the owner and the local police's representative. The third type is a plastic card with the photo and the signature of the holder digitally reproduced. These are generally called Personal Identity Card.