Hold your CEI against the phone and see the chip data in seconds: names, personal numeric code (CNP), photo, signature, validity and, with the card PIN, your home address.
iPhone and Android · Requires a phone with NFC · No account, no server
The app talks to the card's chip with the same standard protocols used at border gates and government counters, directly on your phone.
Surname, given names, CNP, date of birth, sex, nationality, document number, validity, issuing authority, plus the photo and signature stored in the chip.
With the card's 4-digit PIN the app also reads the address. The PIN is sent to the chip once and is never stored.
The digital signature over the data is verified on the phone, up to the Romanian state's certificate authority (CSCA). You know the data is exactly what was written at issuance.
No server, no account, no ads, no analytics. The result disappears when you close the screen. You export a PDF only if you want to.
A clean document with the data, photo and signature, generated on the phone and sent wherever you choose: e-mail, message, files.
Romanian, English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and Chinese.
Four steps, under a minute. You need the Romanian electronic identity card (the chip model issued since 2021) and a phone with NFC.
The CAN is a 6-digit number printed on the front of the card, bottom right, under the expiry date. It is the key the phone uses to open a secure channel to the chip.
Type the 6 digits. If you also want the home address, tick "Enter the card PIN too" and type the 4-digit PIN you received with the card (not the 6-digit PIN for electronic signatures).
Place the card on the back of the phone, at the top edge, where the NFC antenna sits (on iPhone it is right at the top). Remove thick cases and keep the card still until the progress bar completes. It takes a few seconds; a little longer with the PIN.
The photo, the data and the "Authentic CEI" label appear once the state signature verifies. Tap "Export PDF" for a document with the data, photo and signature, or "Scan another CEI" for the next card. When you close the screen, the data is gone.
Check that NFC is on (Android: Settings > Connections > NFC; on iPhone it is always on). Remove thick or magnetic cases, bring the card slowly to the top edge of the phone and hold it still for 5-10 seconds. On some Android phones the antenna sits in the middle of the back; try moving the card a few centimetres.
The address is protected by the card itself and can only be read with the 4-digit PIN. Tick "Enter the card PIN too" before reading. Without the PIN no app can show the address; that is how the card was designed.
Both come in the envelope delivered with the card. The 4-digit PIN is for authentication and is the one the app uses for the address. The 6-digit PIN is for qualified electronic signatures and is never used by the app.
The card allows a few attempts (5 in total). After the fifth failure it locks permanently: there is no PUK code. Unlocking is free at the population records office that issued the card. The app shows how many attempts remain and never retries by itself.
The chip answers "wrong CAN" if any digit differs. Make sure you read all 6 digits from the front of the card (bottom right). The CAN has no attempt counter, so you can safely try again.
The chip data is digitally signed by the Romanian state at issuance. The app verifies the signature and the certificate chain up to the national authority (CSCA Romania) on the phone. If a warning appears the data may still be correct, but the verification could not be completed; try reading again.
No. There is no server, account or analytics; the app works without internet. Data lives only in the app's memory and disappears when you close the screen. The only file ever created is the PDF, on your request, which you send wherever you choose. Details in the privacy policy.
The app is built for the Romanian electronic identity card (CEI), the chip model issued since 2021. The old card has no chip. Passports use a similar protocol, but the app is not tuned for them.
No. CEI Reader RO is an independent, privately developed app and is not affiliated with the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs or any other public institution.
No server, no account, no tracking. Our privacy policy is one page, not twenty.
CEI Reader RO