DNI is the acronym that is used to popularly name in Argentina the National Identity Document, which is the main and valid document to prove the identity of an Argentine citizen or that of a resident in the country that has processed it in a timely manner. That is, the DNI is the most relevant document when identifying a person in Argentina.
A competent authority on security matters or any other actor who needs to identify someone must ask them to present their DNI to prove who they really are. For example, the DNI must always be carried in the purse, the wallet, among others, so that if necessary, the identity can be immediately proven.
How and where to process it?
The National Registry of Persons, which is a body that depends on the Ministry of the Interior, is in charge of issuing this important document. The places where they can be processed are in the civil registries of the various provinces of the country, in the so-called rapid documentation centers that have been developed in recent years, and also abroad, in the embassies corresponding to Argentina, the Argentines who are there will also be able to process it.
The processing of the DNI has been greatly streamlined when compared to past times when it was a cumbersome process and took hours to complete. Today, Argentines can request a turn to process it via the internet, fill in all the data corresponding to the identity and residence of the person and then on the day of the shift they appear at the corresponding offices and there they will take photos and print the fingerprint of electronic way.
The New DNI
At present, the Ministry of the Interior has developed the New DNI, an identity document in card format, which stands out for the security measures it has to prevent its forgery, something sometimes so common with DNIs.
Argentines or nationalized foreigners have until March 2016 to process it because after that date the other identity documents that circulated in the country will not be valid, such is the case of the Civic Book, the one with the green cover, among others.
The front of the new DNI has the identification number that appears printed in laser, the photo of the person, the name and surname, the document number, nationality, sex, the date of issue and expiration date, the signature and the digital identification code and many other elements that provide greater security to it.
On the back you will find the digital identification code, the person's address, the date and place where they were born and the fingerprint of their thumb and more security elements.
Images: iStock - Vitaly_Art / Danil Melekhin
