IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The Bangladeshi embassy in UAE is outsourcing services as it struggles to meet demand while introducing passports with biometric data.

Five Bangladeshi typing centres, Janata Bank and Al Ansari Exchange have been enlisted to help as the embassy tries to replace the passports of 800,000 of its nationals in the UAE before an international deadline, according to Abu Dhabi-based The National.

“This change is necessary in light of continuing passport fraud around the world,” Col. Hasan Ali Ahmad, head of the IT department at the Directorate General of General Security   in Lebanon told the Daily Start in an interview.

However, Stepanov found it difficult to say what the cost of biometric passports will be, but he expressed confidence that the price would be lower than UAH 350 announced by the EDAPS Consortium.

ePassports, also known as “biometric passports” contain an electronic chip that is encoded with surname, given name, date of birth, place of birth and gender information. It also includes a digital picture of the bearer’s face. Signatures are not reproduced on the chip.

The Zimbabwe government believes that the introduction and mass production of the new travel document will reduce the price of the document. Currently, an ordinary Zimbabwean passport costs US$50 while other regional countries charge less than US$30.

"The ministry has invited international bids for chips. The Home Ministry also has a role to play to check the credentials of the companies as security is involved in it. Once it is done, the India Security Press would be able to finalise the design," Pardesi, a joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

Die Entscheidung des US-Ministeriums für Heimatschutz, eine Kernkomponente des US-VISIT-Systems, nämlich die Fingerabdruckerfassung, entscheidend umzugestalten, wird keinesfalls nur Auswirkungen innerhalb der USA oder auf dort Einreisende haben.

The UAE PASS initiative aims to eventually allow citizens to access all UAE government services via smartphone with a single set of login details.

Smart Dubai has integrated seven government entities into the UAEPASS platform, completing phase one of the programme.

The UAE PASS initiative, which will eventually cover the whole United Arab Emirates (UAE), aims to allow residents and visitors to seamlessly access government services via smartphones, without the need to visit service centres, and with a single set of login details.

A new smart e-Gate system which reads passport information and captures biometric data including facial recognition in 12 to 14 seconds has been launched at the Dubai International Airport yesterday. Initially, it is installed at Terminal 3 arrival and will eventually be installed across all Dubai International’s immigration entry and exit points soon.

The system, equipped with retinal scan using a high-accuracy camera, will eliminate the need for the e-Gate card currently issued by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigner Affairs (GDRFA).

UAE-based airline Emirates and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will position Dubai as one of the first cities in the world to implement digital verification of traveller medical records related to Covid-19 testing and vaccination.

Under the agreement, Emirates and the DHA will work to link the IT systems of DHA-approved laboratories with Emirates’ reservations and check-in systems.

"The work of producing biometric passports is part of the process of modernising the administration and improving the security of documents needed by Algerian citizens for their daily lives," Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said at the January 4th launch ceremony.

The high-tech Algeria biometric passport contains an electronic chip with information about the holder, including a digitised photograph, fingerprints and signature.

To ensure the smooth preparation and implementation of the new biometric passport or e-passport by the National Registration and Immigration Department, Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Adanan bin Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri SetiaAwang Hj Mohd Yusof, the Minister of Home Affairs personally took a closer look at the project in the Department of National Registration and Immigration, yesterday morning.

Norayr Muradkhanyan said that all the citizens who are 16 and are receiving a passport for the first time will be issued those pasports. Citizens who already have a passport, can use them until expiration or change them if they so desire.

According to the Chief of the Passport and Visa Department of RA Police Norayr Muradkhanyan, the implementation of biometric/electronic passports will help avoid a number of problems at checkpoints.

The electronic passports include the same information as the current passports plus the fingerprints. ID cards will be used inside the country, while the biometric passports are necessary for leaving abroad.

“Even though this system has been proposed by entitled bodies of the European Union [EU], and the proposal has been confirmed by a number of international documents regulating the partnership between Armenia and EU, the Republic of Armenia was also interested in the introduction of this system, because it gives an opportunity [to citizens of Armenia] to enjoy a more alleviated visa regime while travelling to EU member countries,” Kocharyan said, adding that the new passports will decrease the possibility of committing passport fraud, as well as will simplify the identification process of a person, and the so-called, personae non gratae will be found more easily.

Social security cards are expected to come out of use after the implementation of documents with biometric data. Their number will be posted on ID cards and biometric passports.

According to local media, a total of eight international organisations have bid for the tender to produce the documents.

Citizens will be able to receive their new documents from September 2011. The passports will contain the holder’s full name, date and place of birth, photograph and fingerprints. The eID cards will hold an electronic signature instead of fingerprints.

The confirmation follows the completion of legislative preparations in November 2011.

The ID card represent a plastic card, which includes complete information about its owner and can be used in all spheres of public life.