VNeID puts your identity card and public services into one app

VNeID is Vietnam’s national digital identity app, and it is becoming the one place where your identity card, your licences and your access to public services live together. Developed and managed by the Ministry of Public Security, VNeID launched for Vietnamese citizens in 2022 and has grown from a digital ID card into the key for everyday administration. It stores digital versions of your citizen identity card, driving licence, vehicle registration, health insurance card and social insurance record, and it authenticates you for government services that once required a visit, a photocopy and a queue. With Decree 320/2026 now in force, VNeID is also becoming mandatory: accounts on many digital platforms must be linked to it, and that deadline is approaching fast.

Level 1 and Level 2, what each unlocks

VNeID accounts come in two levels, and the difference matters. A Level 1 account is registered by the user in the app, with a face photo and personal details, and it gives access to electronic identity information and some app features. A Level 2 account is issued after in-person verification: you present your identity card at a police office, where your face and fingerprints are checked against the national identity database. Level 2 unlocks the full range of VNeID features and connected services, including acting on behalf of a company. Since 1 July 2025, foreign residents holding valid residence cards have also been able to obtain Level 2 accounts in person at immigration offices. And from 28 September 2026, under Decree 320/2026, any foreigner who has lawfully entered or resides in Vietnam can be issued an electronic identification account, without the old distinction of levels. For Vietnamese citizens, the practical advice is simple: Level 1 is a start, but Level 2 is the account that opens everything, and it requires one in-person visit.

What you can already do with it

The list of everyday uses grows every year. VNeID holds the documents people used to carry in a wallet: identity card, driving licence, vehicle registration and health insurance. From December 2025, Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air began accepting VNeID for domestic flight check-in without physical documents. Banks require VNeID-linked biometric verification for account maintenance. Criminal record certificate requests, residence registration and driving licence renewals can all be started through the app, with results returned electronically. The legal framework behind this is Decree 69/2024, issued on 25 June 2024 and effective from 1 July 2024, which sets out the rules for electronic identification and authentication. For businesses, the same decree made electronic identification effectively essential: from 1 July 2025, most online administrative procedures, including business registration, licensing and tax matters, are only accessible through e-ID authenticated channels, and accounts previously created on the National Public Service Portal or other legacy platforms ceased to be valid after 30 June 2025. A company obtains its own e-ID account through its legal representative, who must hold a Level 2 personal account.

Decree 320/2026 and the linking deadlines

Decree 320/2026, issued on 13 August 2026 and in force from 28 September 2026, amends Decree 69/2024 and extends VNeID far beyond government counters. Its new Article 40(9) requires electronic transaction accounts on digital platforms in eleven fields to be linked and authenticated with an electronic identification account. The fields include education, digital literacy, securities, telecommunications, banking, e-commerce, electronic invoicing, transport, tourism, pharmaceutical business, medical examination and treatment, and social networks in Vietnam. For e-commerce, the rule covers sellers, livestream sellers and affiliate marketers. Accounts created before 28 September 2026 must complete the linking by 31 December 2026, except banking accounts, which have until 30 June 2027. National digital platforms must also integrate electronic identification for login and transactions by 31 December 2026. New accounts created on or after 28 September 2026 get no grace period: the linking requirement applies from creation. The decree names no penalty clause, but the practical consequence is clear enough. A platform that has not linked its users risks losing access to payment, telecom and other regulated services, so platforms are now asking users to verify, one by one. For a deeper look at the decree itself, see our guide to Decree 320/2026.

What it means for daily life, and what to watch

For most residents, the next few months will bring a wave of verification prompts from banks, mobile operators, marketplaces and social platforms. The sensible move is to complete the linking early, before the last week of December, and to make sure the phone number registered to your VNeID account is still registered in your name: since 28 September 2026, accounts have been automatically locked if the registered number changed and is no longer in the holder’s name. There are also trade-offs worth naming. A single identity system concentrates risk, and Vietnam’s data protection rules, including Decree 13/2023 on personal data protection, matter more as VNeID becomes the key to banking, telecom and commerce. People without smartphones, or older residents who need help, will need assisted channels, not just an app. And the system is only as good as its uptime: when one app unlocks everything, an outage locks everything too. Singapore’s Singpass shows the same pattern: a national identity works when it is used every week, kept secure, and backed by an alternative for those who cannot use a phone.

What this means

VNeID has moved from a useful app to a piece of national infrastructure, and the deadlines in Decree 320/2026 make that shift concrete. If you live or do business in Vietnam, the practical steps are short: get a Level 2 account, keep your registered phone number current, and link your platform accounts before 31 December 2026, or 30 June 2027 for banking. The bigger picture is the same one Singapore and Estonia reached earlier: a country runs more smoothly when each person has one verified identity that every service can trust, and the work now is to make that identity safe, reliable and usable for everyone.