Angola, Dominican Republic to introduce biometric passports, Ukraine updates issuance progress

Angolan authorities are readying to launch the country’s biometric passport later this year at a time when the Dominican Republic is planning to make the same document a reality in all of its airports by next year, according to separate news reports.

Xinhua writes that the Migration and Foreigners Service of Angola made the announcement recently, saying the move is aimed at fighting off fraud and forgery related to the production of the travel document.

The report quotes the authorities as saying they are finalizing work on some technical details concerning the passport and look forward to launching it in the last quarter of this year.

The Migration office also said it plans to carry out a census of all foreigners living in the southern African country.

Plans for a biometric passport in Angola were announced in 2019.

Biometric passports in Dominican Republic next year

The Dominican Republic is considering the introduction of a digital passport in order to facilitate entry and exit processes at airports in the country, Dominican Today reports.

The head of the General Directorate of Passports Néstor Julio Cruz said the decision is also in line with government’s plan to align with suggestions of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that member countries should update their passport technology.

“As the number of countries increases, the implementation of electronic passports will probably translate into a mandate. We have already discussed it with the president (about electronic passports), the only thing is that we assumed power at a very difficult time but we are taking the corresponding steps so that it is included in the 2022 budget,” the official told Dominican Today.

He said expenses for that purpose will be imputed to the budget of next year.

Nearly 19M biometric passports issued in Ukraine

The information department of Ukraine’s State Migration Service says about 19 million biometric passports have already been issued to citizens since the document went into use in January 2015, according to Menafn.

Of this number, about 14 million of them were issued over a period of four years of a visa-free policy for Ukrainian travellers, the report notes.

It adds that since the visa-free policy between Ukraine and the European Union started in 2017, biometric passport holders have found it easy traveling to the EU, in a move which has been described as enhancing cultural, educational and business relations as well as the tourist and business experience of Ukrainians.

Ukraine’s government recently passed legislation to support a digital version of the biometric passport with equal legal status.

Article Topics

Angola  |  biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  border management  |  digital identity  |  Dominican Republic  |  fraud prevention  |  identity verification  |  travel documents  |  Ukraine