Citizens can travel anywhere in Europe (except Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine) as well as to Georgia, French overseas territories, Montserrat, Turkey[5] and organized tours to Tunisia[6] using only this identity card.

The oldest valid type is a hard-covered, multi-page book issued before 1989 by the People's Republic of Hungary (Internal passport); the second type is a soft-cover, multi-page book issued after the restoration of democracy in 1989.

It does not have any information about the owner's residential address, nor their Personal ID—this sensitive information is contained on a separate card, called the Authority ID (commonly called lakcímkártya, "residential address card").

The Personal ID, which originated in the Communist era, is no longer used as an identification number, but only as a statistical signature.

Other valid documents are the passport (blue or red, containing an RFID chip) and the driver's license; an individual is required to have at least one of them on hand at all times.