Thank you for your childish prompt Hotdog. From your previous post I can see where the misunderstanding has arisen. A person with a foreign passport can not have a permanent I.D. card even after 7 years. Obviously the immigration official who spoke to me was mistaken. I (and any expat) can not have a permanent I.D. card, and can not vote. I assume therefore from your post that you had a permanent I.D. card?