Biometric passport: Global trend

Asian countries and Europe are planning to use biometric passports before 2010 to support anti-terrorism .

At a recent meeting of Asian and European immigration officials in Bali Island (Indonesia), Indonesian Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Hamid Awaluddin, identified biometric systems as a way to combat terrorism and transnational crime.

Minister Santoso said 38 countries that attended the meeting planned to fully utilize the biometric system before 2010.

Earlier, at the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific National Security Summit held in Hawaii on November 20, 2003, Singapore Interior Minister Wong Kan Seng called on countries to develop and use Use biometric passports as soon as possible to hinder terrorist groups from spreading in the area.

Indonesia and South Korea take the lead .

Electronic passport (Biometric Passport) will store digital data of citizens

In Indonesia, Iman Santoso, general director of the Indonesian Immigration Department, said Indonesia wants to start using biometric passports from next year.

Recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea said it will apply biometric passport systems.

The new passport will contain biometric data including fingerprints and digital photos.

Initially, biometric passports will be issued to citizens with expired passports or those who want to replace current passports.

The Korean government plans to replace all passports in 2007 after one year of trial use.

This plan aims to help Korean nationals be exempted from visa if they stay in the United States for 90 days.

Currently, there are 27 countries, including three Asian countries, Australia, Japan and Brunei that are exempted from visa entry if they come to the US within 90 days.

To enjoy this privilege, the above countries must apply biometric passports before October 26, 2006.

Biometric passports will be increasingly popular .

German biometric passport

Since September 2004, the Netherlands has started a six-month program of passport testing and biometric identification.

In April this year, the Minister of French Interior, Dominique De Villepin, announced the identity card, residence card and biometric passport will begin to be widely applied throughout the French territory since 2007.

Earlier last month, Germany became the first country in the European Union (EU) to apply biometric passports .

Then, in February 2006, the UK will launch a new passport program. The EU requires member states to start using new passports in August 2006.

Many countries like Japan, the US, Australia, Russia and Switzerland are also preparing to put similar passports into circulation.

Minh Thuong