Kyrgyzstan president hails high security features of new passport, ID cards

The President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, has given assurances that the country’s new generation biometric national ID card and passport are designed with security features that will be less prone to forgery.

In a message posted on his official Facebook account, Japarov recognized that there has been a panoply of problems related to fake ID cards and passports in the country, but that will soon be a thing of the past.

The message of the president comes as the country plans to commence a process for the free replacement of national ID cards from July 1. The replacement process also involves an update of the national identity database of the country.

He said while some rumours of Kyrgyzstani ID cards and passports being sold to foreigners has turned out to be true, “in the future, there will be no concept of a fake ID card or passport.” Kyrgyzstan launched its biometric passport in 2021.

“It is impossible to forge them as they contain many hidden security features,” the president said, adding that measures have also been put in place to ensure that personal identification documents are not sold all over the place.

During the exercise which will run till August 31, Kyrgyzstanis in possession of invalid ID cards can replace them. In the case of general civil servants, the president says the government is still in search of funds to enable the replacement of their passports.

The government says it issued about 4.8 million of ID cards between 2004 and 2017, but those issued from 2017 remain valid.

The campaign to exchange the 2004 generation of ID cards of the AN series is led by the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic. The ministry explains on its website that the identity documents being withdrawn from use do not meet modern safety and security standards required of ID credentials, as they are not biometrics-based. Apart from cards that have reached their expiry, those that have been damaged or lost will also be replaced.

Article Topics

biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  fraud prevention  |  identity document  |  Kyrgyzstan  |  national ID