Some 68,000 Bulgarian citizens to be fined for invalid IDs

Some 68,000 Bulgarian citizens will be fined for not renewing their ID cards on time in 2012. Under the law, people have a period of one month from the date of expiration to submit their application for a new ID. A total of 25,000 citizens will be penalised for not renewing their personal identification documents since these became invalid in 2010, while for 2011 the number is 43,000, Maria Kostadinova, head of the Bulgarian Identification Papers Direcorate, told Focus. The fine ranges between BGN 20 and BGN 150. For losing one's ID card the penalty can be from BGN 30 up to BGN 200.

While the number of ID cards for Bulgarian citizens issued from police departments in the country is diminishing, the number of documents requested by Bulgarians abroad remains stable and is expected to grow, according to Kostadinova.

Two and a half times more IDs have been issued, compared to passports, even though the cost of the express order is almost the same.

Out of the 4,195,000 ID applications, 3,524,000 were submitted as a regular order, 538,000 as a fast order and 55,000 – as an express order. With passports, the figures are respectively 1,110,000 for the cheapest service, 399,000 for the fast one and 49,383 for the shortest procedure out of a total of 1,658,000.

Maria Kostadinova reminded that the first ever ID must be issued at the age of 14. For people between the age of 14 and 16 the service is free of charge, but parents who have not filed for the ID within a month of their child's birthday are subject to penalties.

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