Kape Tools

How to get a Digital National ID

This is your National ID inside your phone. You open the free eGovPH app, log in, and show your ID on the screen. It is the same ID as the plastic card, so banks, government offices, and companies must accept it.

Digital National ID
Philippine Statistics Authority / PhilSys official campaign graphic (February 2026) - 'I-access ang iyong Digital National ID sa eGovPH app', showing the Digital National ID inside the eGovPH app. Converted from the source PNG to jpeg. Downloaded with a Referer header - philsys.gov.ph returns http 403 to hotlinked or refererless image requests.

The three ways to get it

Online

Yes

The older website national-id.gov.ph still works if you would rather use a computer, but since August 2025 the PSA has been telling people who downloaded their ID that way to use the eGovPH app instead. Two warnings from the PSA itself.

First, printing your Digital National ID onto PVC or plastic is strictly prohibited and a printed copy will not be accepted - if an office insists on paper, ask a registration center for the free ePhilID instead. Second, in a public advisory dated 20 April 2026 the PSA described a scam where callers pretend to be PSA staff, tell you to switch off Google Play Store protection, then send a link to a fake eGovPH app and ask for your fingerprint.

The PSA says this is not authorised. Install the app only from the official store listing and check the publisher.

  1. Open Google Play or the App Store and search for eGovPH. Check that the maker is DICT eGovernment or Department of Information and Communications Technology before you install it. There are fake copies.
  2. Open the app and tap Get Started or Register.
  3. Type the mobile number you used when you registered for the National ID. Wait for the OTP, type it in, and confirm.
  4. Make a 6-digit mpin. Do not use your birthday. Write it down somewhere safe.
  5. Type your email address, then open the email the app sends you and click the link.
  6. Your account works now but it is not yet verified. Go to Profile and tap Verify Account.
  7. Type your PhilSys Card Number (PCN). If you are holding the plastic card, you can scan its QR code instead.
  8. Do the face check. Sit somewhere bright, take off your glasses, hat, and mask, and follow the blink or turn instructions. Use WiFi if you can, not mobile data.
  9. Wait for the verification email. It usually comes within a few hours.
  10. Log in again, tap Mobile ID on the home screen, then tap your Digital National ID to open it. Show the QR code when someone needs to check it.

Walk-in

Yes

Walking in is the only way to register in the first place, because your fingerprints, iris, and photo have to be captured in person. It is also the only place any of your details can be corrected later.

The PSA also brings registration to far places through National ID on Wheels and National ID on Boat, and has set up centers in selected Department of Migrant Workers offices for OFWs. You can also request a paper copy through the eGovPH app's BPESH Hub.

  1. Find a National ID registration center. The official list is at philsys.gov.ph/registration-center/. They sit inside PSA regional and provincial offices, malls, and LGU offices, and are open 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday.
  2. Bring your original supporting documents and give them to the Registration Kit Operator.
  3. They check your details, then take your fingerprints, an iris scan, and your photo.
  4. Read everything on the screen and confirm it. Check the spelling of your name now, while it is still easy to fix.
  5. They give you a transaction slip with your TRN. Keep it. You need it to track your card and to claim your paper ID.
  6. To get the free ePhilID paper copy, go back to the nearest registration center with your transaction slip and ask them to print it. If there is no duplicate or discrepancy in your record, you can often get it the same day you register.

Representative

Not on its own

This is the biggest difference between the National ID and the PSA certificates above. A PSA birth certificate can be collected by an authorised representative with a letter and two IDs.

A National ID cannot, because it is tied to your body, not to a piece of paper. Anyone offering to 'process your National ID' for a fee is either wasting your money or running a scam.

  1. There is no representative route. Nobody can register for you and nobody can get your Digital National ID for you.
  2. Registration needs your fingerprints, your iris scan, and your photo, taken in person at a registration center.
  3. Opening the Digital National ID needs a live selfie of your own face, which the app checks against your record.
  4. Another person may only assist you: hold the phone, read the screen aloud, or come with you to the center. The PSA says this plainly for senior citizens and persons with disability - someone may assist you, which is not the same as doing it for you.
  5. Never give your PhilSys Card Number and your OTP to a fixer or to anyone who calls you.

What to bring

  • A smartphone with an internet connection. You must be online to open your Digital National ID in the app - it does not work offline
  • Your PhilSys Card Number (PCN). Take it from your plastic card, your ePhilID paper copy, or the transaction slip from the day you registered
  • The mobile number you gave when you registered for the National ID. The one-time password (OTP) is sent there
  • An email address you can open
  • Your own face, for the live selfie check
  • A 6-digit mpin that you choose
  • For first-time PhilSys registration instead, bring the original of one primary document: a PSA birth certificate plus one government ID with photo and signature, or a Philippine passport, or a UMID (SSS or GSIS), or an LTO driver's licence or student permit
  • If you have none of those, secondary documents are accepted, such as a PRC ID, postal ID, voter's ID, TIN ID, PhilHealth ID, NBI or police clearance, senior citizen ID, PWD ID, solo parent ID, 4Ps ID, seaman's book, OWWA ID, barangay clearance, or a school or employee ID
  • Resident aliens: an ACR or ACR I-Card plus a sworn certification of 180 days or more of stay

The details

Who can apply

You must already be registered in PhilSys. The app does not create a new ID - it only shows a record that already exists, so if you have never registered, you must first go to a National ID registration center in person.

You do not need to wait for the plastic card to arrive: the card number you type in can come from the card, from the ePhilID paper copy, or from the transaction slip they gave you on the day you registered. PhilSys registration itself is open from age 1 up, and to every Filipino citizen and to resident aliens (people who have stayed in the Philippines more than 180 days in total).

Cost

Free. This is written into the law, not just policy: Republic Act 11055, Section 6(c)(3), says the first application, the issuance, and the renewal of the PhilID for citizens shall be free of charge.

The eGovPH app is a free download, the Digital National ID inside it is free, and the ePhilID paper copy is claimed from a registration center free of charge. There is also no fee to verify an ID at everify.gov.ph.

Fees exist only for resident aliens and for replacing an ID that was lost, damaged, or had its details changed - and citizens who present a Certificate of Indigency from the City or Municipal Social Welfare Office are exempted even from those. Replacing a card whose photo peeled off is free.

How long it takes

The Digital National ID is usually same day. Making the eGovPH account takes a few minutes, and the identity verification that unlocks the ID normally comes back within a few hours, sometimes up to a day.

The ePhilID paper copy is immediate - you can often get it printed on the same day you register, as long as there is no duplicate or discrepancy in your record. The plastic card is the slow part: The practical advice for a VA or freelancer is simple: do not wait for the card.

Get the digital ID and the paper ePhilID, because both are already fully valid.

How long it lasts

It does not expire. The PSA states that the National ID has no expiration and is only renewed when you update your demographic or biometric information, and it says the same about the Digital National ID specifically: it has no expiration and shall be honoured and accepted in all transactions requiring proof of identity and age, subject to proper authentication.

Children do not get a shorter validity, but their biometrics are captured again at age 15 (and children registered between ages 1 and 4 have full biometrics captured at age 5).

Tips

  • It is legally valid ID, and refusing it carries a PHP 500,000 fine. This is the most useful thing to know. Republic Act 11055, Section 12, says presenting the PhilID or the PSN is sufficient proof of identity, and that private companies are also required to accept it. Section 13 says it must be honoured and accepted, subject to authentication, in all transactions that need proof of identity. Section 19 fines anyone who refuses to accept or recognise it without just and sufficient cause PHP 500,000. If an establishment refuses your Digital National ID, email info@philsys.gov.ph with the date, the name, branch, and address of the establishment, what you were trying to do, and the reason they gave you.
  • For banks and e-wallets there is a specific rule you can name: BSP Memorandum No. 2024-026. It requires every BSP-supervised bank and non-bank institution to accept all formats of the National ID, including the Digital National ID, as an official government-issued identification document and a valid primary proof of identity, subject to authentication, and to add it to their own list of acceptable IDs. GCash, BPI (vybe), and Asia United Bank (HelloMoney) already accept the digital version for opening accounts.
  • Learn the phrase 'subject to authentication'. Every acceptance rule includes it. If a teller doubts what is on your screen, tell them to check it at everify.gov.ph/check (National ID Check). They scan your QR code and the details on their screen must match yours. Knowing this tool is often what turns a refusal into an approved transaction.
  • A name mismatch is the number one reason things fail, and only a registration center can fix it. Your PhilSys record has to match your PSA birth certificate exactly, including your middle name and any suffix like Jr. In a public advisory dated 20 April 2026 the PSA confirmed that any update to National ID information is done only at registration centers - not online, not by email. Bring your National ID and your supporting documents.
  • Never register twice. People who cannot find their record often register again, which makes things worse: the PSA warns that double registration causes problems with later identity verification and ID processing, and that is exactly what produces a 'record not found' error. If the face check keeps failing, first check your internet, use WiFi and good light, and remove glasses, hat, and mask. If it still fails, email info@philsys.gov.ph with your full name, date of birth, 16-digit National ID card number, mobile number, whether you have updated your demographic details, which ID formats you already have, and whether you ever registered more than once. Sending all of that at once saves a round of emails.

Not verified

The research could not confirm these against an official 2026 source. Phone the office before you travel.

  • the exact replacement fee. The Revised IRR of RA 11055 defers the amount to a schedule of fees to be issued by the PSA, and no such published schedule could be found. The PSA FAQ still tells people with a lost or stolen ID to wait for an announcement on its official channels. Non-official sites quote PHP 135, PHP 150, and PHP 200 - three different numbers, none of them from the PSA - so do not rely on any of them.
  • the widely repeated claim that a resident alien's National ID is valid for only 1 year does not appear in the text of RA 11055 or in its Revised IRR. Both only confirm that resident aliens pay a fee and have a renewal or reactivation path. Foreign residents should confirm the term with the PSA directly.
  • the PSA publishes no guaranteed delivery time for the physical card. What is official is that you track it with your TRN at tracking.phlpost.gov.ph, and that as of September 2025 the PSA had delivered about 54.9 million cards against roughly 90.7 million registrations.
  • several guides say the eGovPH app account itself needs you to be 18 or older, but no official PSA or DICT page states a minimum age for the app, and dict.gov.ph blocks automated checking.
  • the exact button names in steps 6 to 10 come from a 2026 third-party guide, because neither the PSA nor DICT publishes a screen-by-screen walkthrough, so labels may change between app versions.

Sources