Albania to issue digital passports

31/08/2006

Albania announced plans to deliver new passports with digital chips to its citizens. The project is due to be implemented by the end of next year.

By Erlis Selimaj for Southeast European Times in Tirana – 31/08/06

The new Albanian passports will contain a microchip with the bearer's information on it. [Bundesdruckerei]

Albania has announced plans to issue new passports that contain greater security measures, in hopes of easing restrictions on its citizens under the Schengen visa system. The project was drafted by the interior ministry, and was passed by the government this summer.

Albania is not the only country in the region making the move. On Tuesday (29 August), Greece announced that it has begun to issue new e-passports. The fee to acquire the new ID documents is 45 euros, 20 euros more than prior travel documents. Albania has not yet set the price for its new passports.

Among the new elements of the passport will be an integrated chip, allowing the passport to be scanned digitally. It will feature a digital photograph and other data such as fingerprints. Customs authorities will be able to instantly access the digital file without assistance from the police.

"By putting a chip in the passports, all the citizens will be able to pass through the borders more quickly, as the checking procedures will be eased," the government said.

The new travel document will be called the Albanian Electronic Passport (AEP), and can be used for more than ten years after the issue date. The passport will have 48 pages, and the chip will be put in the back cover.

According to the ministry, the new passport will be mauve in colour; diplomatic passports will be dark green and service passports will be black.

The new passports are scheduled to be ready late next year, in an effort to guarantee higher security measures in accordance with international regulations. "

It is necessary to renovate the passports in order to modernise the actual system which was built up in 1992. We want to offer high security measures and protect the documents from being forged or abused. We also want to implement the international standards for the biometric data in the passports," the ministry said.

The current passports are produced by the German company Bundesdruckerei International Services, which has been under contract since February 2002. The step comes as Albania, among other countries in the region, is pushing to ease the EU visa regime. The advanced technology is currently in use in the EU and the United States.