Ukraine State Migration Service plans to complete biometric passport work by 2016

By 2016, the State Migration Service in Ukraine plans to complete all the work required to issue biometric passports in the country.

According to Head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine, Mykola Kovalchuk, the service started preparations for the biometric passports early this year.

Reported in the Kyiv Post, Kovalchuk has predicted the government would approve the document and start financing in full in March 2013. The project is estimated to cost USD $85-100 million.

“The draft decision has already been prepared, and it is being coordinated with other departments,” Kovalchuk said.

The new passports will contain an electronic chip with information about the passport holder and fingerprint information can reportedly be added later. Passports will be produced in the form of cards and will be issued no later than 30 calendar days from the date of the submission of a relevant application.

Reported in BiometricUpdate.com, last year, Ukuraine President Viktor Yanukovych signed the law which would see the passports introduced, though it hasn’t been an easy process.

Shortly after the law was passed and came into effect, experts said the law would have to be revised, as they say it fell short of the European standards of human rights protection.

Article Topics

biometric database  |  biometrics  |  border control  |  ePassports  |  fingerprint  |  government  |  government purchasing