Dominican Republic biometric passport plans advance, supplier to front costs

The Dominican Republic is preparing to launch its biometric passports with embedded electronic chips to replace the machine-readable version, with authorities assuring the public that the project will incur no direct cost to the state. The development follows months of procurement challenges and is part of the government’s broader efforts to enhance travel security and streamline passport services.

The initiative adopts a payment-per-passport model, where the supplier company shoulders the costs of production and related investments. According to reports from Dominican Today, the government will only pay for passports issued to citizens, ensuring taxpayers face no additional financial burden.

The details provided on the cost structure of the new contract to issue the Dominican Republic’s biometric passports do not clarify whether a supplier has been selected yet. The contract and production details are classified information as a matter of national security under Presidential Decree 282-23.

The General Directorate of Passports (DGP) projects that by the end of 2024, over 800,000 of the legacy passports will have been issued, signaling high demand as the country transitions to the new electronic system. The Dominican’s machine readable passports are supplied by De La Rue and local partner Pastoriza SRL under a contract signed in 2017. De La Rue’s citizen identity business was acquired by HID in 2019, and HID’s citizen identity business was just acquired by Toppan Gravity.

The Dominican Republic’s national ID cards are printed on Toppan printers, according to Wikipedia, through a contract awarded in 2013 to Copy Solutions International, GetGroup and ABnote. The ID cards are also going through a modernization and tender process.

The presidency of the Dominican Republic says the high demand shows that the modernization effort will require facilities with better connectivity and sufficient space to accommodate the necessary technology needed for the e-passports. To address these issues, the DGP says it will relocate to a new rental facility.

The new passports will feature biometric security measures, including polycarbonate materials and embedded microchips storing fingerprint and facial recognition data, in a bid to ensure compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.

Dominicans with expired passports will be prioritized to receive the new biometric passports, which will be available beginning mid-2025, according to Dominican Today.

Challenges in the procurement process

The initiative faced hurdles earlier this year when the original tender process for the chip passport implementation was suspended in September, Diario Libre reports.

The Public Procurement and Contracting Directorate (DGCP) temporarily halted the process due to irregularities, and signs of violation in regards to the principles of participation during the process. The DGCP notes that 25 domestic and international companies expressed interest in bidding on the passport issuance contract, but only two bids were received.

This follows a call for bids by the DGP was issued in search of digital identity service providers to install new infrastructure that will allow the issuance of electronic passports, which closed by May 27, 2024.

Article Topics

biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  Dominican Republic  |  identity document  |  tender  |  Toppan Gravity