Biometric ID card and passport issuance in Czech Republic and Cyprus, mobile registration in Fiji

The government of the Czech Republic is in talks to issue ID cards that include fingerprint and facial biometric data to comply with the EU’s minimum common security standards, Radio Prague International reports.

Compliant ID cards and residence permits must include two images of the bearer’s fingerprints and photographs stored on a contactless chip meeting the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The country’s Interior Ministry has proposed amending an existing contract with the State Printing House of Securities to include the new ID issuance.

The cards will be valid for between five and ten years, and their use becomes mandatory for crossing borders in the region with national ID cards by August 2021.

In Cyprus, a new generation of biometric passports will be introduced on July 30, but technical problems caused by a system upgrade have caused a backlog in issuance of the country’s national ID card.

The Financial Mirror reports that the Interior Ministry has acknowledged there will be a delay in the delivery of new biometric ID cards, and urged people who applied after June 22 to contact local offices for information on when to expect their credentials.

Veridos was selected for the project last year.

Fiji has launched its new mobile registration system for biometric passports, Fiji TV reports, with the Department of Immigration registering the biometrics of a man scheduled for medical treatment in New Zealand.

Mobile registration kits were introduced for the program in part to accommodate people with disabilities, such as the aforementioned individual.

A mobile ePassport system for Fijians was launched in Australia last year to simplify passport applications. The Department says 34,000 ePassports have been issued since the program’s launch in September 2019.

Article Topics

biometric data  |  biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  credentials  |  Cyprus  |  Czech Republic  |  Fiji  |  ID cards  |  identity document