E-passport is being issued from today, what are the features?

KATHMANDU: NOV. 17 – The government is issuing e-passport from today. Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka is scheduled to formally issue an electronic passport from the Tripureshwor office of the Passport Department this (Wednesday) afternoon.

As a machine-readable passport (MRP) has been issued till now, an e-passport will be issued from today. Although initially only a limited number of e-passports will be distributed daily, the department has stated that it will be fully distributed within a year. The department has also stated that even if an e-passport is issued, an e-passport will not be mandatory immediately.

The Passport Department had on December 20, 2020, signed a purchase agreement with IDIMIA Identity and Security of France for printing e-passport for Rs 2.48 billion. As per the agreement, the company has completed the distribution of e-passport within 10 months.

The e-passport defined by the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) as safe, is considered to be of higher quality and more reliable than the MRP and is also trusted internationally due to its use of high technology. It uses a small electronic chip like a mobile SIM.

It also contains biometric data along with personal details, which makes it easy for the computer to read. It is believed that biometric data will solve the problem of misuse of passports. Its ‘security feature’ also tends to be strict.

The 64-page e-passport will have the national flag of Danphe and Nepal on the inside page of the first and last cover. Similarly, the first page will have Mount Everest, the second will have polycarbonate data, the third will have Lumbini, the fourth and fifth will have Rashtrapati Bhawan, and the sixth and seventh pages will have pictures of unicorns.