The complainant contacted the Office of the Ombudsman about her 99-year-old father, who lives in sheltered housing. According to the complainant, the validity of her father's ID card expired in August 2022, but due to his age and the lack of available appointments at the bureaus of the Population Authority, it was difficult for him to get to the Authority to obtain a new card. The complainant inquired if it was possible to extend the validity of her father's ID card automatically, or to issue him a new card, without the need for him to go in person to a bureau of the Authority.
The investigation of the complaint disclosed that according to the Population Authority's regulations, an older person, a sick person or a person with a disability, who due to his/her illness, advanced age or disability is not able to get to a bureau of the Authority, is permitted to apply for a first biometric ID card via a first-degree relative, without the need to go to a bureau of the Authority; this being subject to the fulfillment of published criteria.
At all events, the investigation disclosed that the Population Authority had extended the validity of non-biometric ID cards by two years, with no need for any action on the part of the citizen. Since the complainant's father holds a non-biometrical ID card, he was not required to do anything to extend its validity.
The Office of the Ombudsman further checked how the Population Authority had informed the public of this decision. The investigation disclosed that the notice concerning "Important information for ID card holders", which was published on the Authority's website, did not provide information about the automatic extension of old cards.
Following the intervention of the Office of the Ombudsman, the Population Authority published an updated and detailed notice, informing the public in which cases the validity of old ID cards had been extended by two years.