Well, I forgot to say, when you turn 18, you take your birth certificate with a photo and that's when it begins bearing a photo.
That's really a loose system. And how you prove you are a citizen if you refuse to show an ID?
PS: Just to clarify, our birth certificate almost looks like a passport. It has a stamp page dedicated to election stamps. There's a section that registers marriages and divorces, offspring, etc.
samples of first page:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VB0TIvi6Zjc/Tv..._16707837_n.jpghttp://up.lovedoni.com/FAEGHEATAFHIN.jpg
