A biometric passport (also known as an electronic passport, e-passport or a digital passport) is a
passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...
that has an embedded electronic
microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...
chip, which contains
biometric
Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...
information that can be used to authenticate the identity of the passport holder. It uses
contactless smart card
A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticket ...
technology, including a microprocessor chip (computer chip) and antenna (for both power to the chip and communication) embedded in the front or back cover, or centre page, of the passport. The passport's critical information is printed on the data page of the passport, repeated on the
machine readable lines and stored in the chip.
Public key infrastructure
A public key infrastructure (PKI) is a set of roles, policies, hardware, software and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store and revoke digital certificates and manage public-key encryption.
The purpose of a PKI is to fac ...
(PKI) is used to authenticate the data stored electronically in the passport chip, making it expensive and difficult to forge when all security mechanisms are fully and correctly implemented.
Most countries are issuing biometric passports to their citizens.
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
was the first country to issue
biometric passports
A biometric passport (also known as an electronic passport, e-passport or a digital passport) is a passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip, which contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identit ...
in 1998.
By the end of 2008, 60 countries were issuing such passports, which increased to over 150 by mid-2019.
The currently standardised biometrics used for this type of identification system are
facial recognition,
fingerprint recognition, and
iris recognition
Iris recognition is an automated method of biometrics, biometric identification that uses mathematical pattern-recognition techniques on video images of one or both of the iris (anatomy), irises of an individual's Human eye, eyes, whose complex ...
. These were adopted after assessment of several different kinds of biometrics including
retinal scan. Document and chip characteristics are documented in the
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...
's (ICAO) Doc 9303 (ICAO 9303). The ICAO defines the biometric file formats and communication protocols to be used in passports. Only the digital image (usually in
JPEG
JPEG ( , short for Joint Photographic Experts Group and sometimes retroactively referred to as JPEG 1) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degr ...
or
JPEG 2000
JPEG 2000 (JP2) is an image compression standard and coding system. It was developed from 1997 to 2000 by a Joint Photographic Experts Group committee chaired by Touradj Ebrahimi (later the JPEG president), with the intention of superseding their ...
format) of each biometric feature is actually stored in the chip. The comparison of biometric features is performed outside the passport chip by electronic border control systems (e-borders). To store biometric data on the contactless chip, it includes a minimum of 32 kilobytes of
EEPROM storage memory, and runs on an interface in accordance with the
ISO/IEC 14443 international standard, amongst others. These standards intend interoperability between different countries and different manufacturers of passport books.
Some
national identity cards
An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a documentation, document proving a person's Identity (social science), identity.
If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). ...
, such as those from
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, and
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
are fully ICAO 9303 compliant biometric
travel document
A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international entity pursuant to international agreements to enable individuals to clear border control measures. Travel documents usually assure other governments that the beare ...
s. However others, such as the
United States passport card, are not.
Data protection
Biometric passports have protection mechanisms to avoid and/or detect attacks:
; Non-traceable chip characteristics: Random chip identifiers reply to each request with a different chip number. This prevents tracing of passport chips. Using random identification numbers is optional.
;
Basic Access Control (BAC): BAC protects the communication channel between the chip and the reader by encrypting transmitted information. Before data can be read from a chip, the reader needs to provide a key which is derived from the
Machine Readable Zone: the date of birth, the date of expiry and the document number. If BAC is used, an attacker cannot (easily) eavesdrop transferred information without knowing the correct key. Using BAC is optional.
; Passive Authentication (PA): PA is aimed at identifying modification of passport chip data. The chip contains a file, Document Security Object (SOD), that stores
hash values of all files stored in the chip (picture, fingerprint, etc.) and a
digital signature of these hashes. The digital signature is made using a document signing key which itself is signed by a country signing key. If a file in the chip (e.g., the picture) is changed, this can be detected since the hash value is incorrect. Readers need access to all used public country keys to check whether the digital signature is generated by a trusted country. Using PA is mandatory. As of January 2017, 55 of over 60 e-passport-issuing countries belong to the
ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD) program.
; Active Authentication (AA): AA prevents cloning of passport chips. The chip contains a private key that cannot be read or copied, but its existence can easily be proven. Using AA is optional.
;
Extended Access Control (EAC): EAC adds functionality to check the authenticity of both the chip (chip authentication) and the reader (terminal authentication). Furthermore, it uses stronger encryption than BAC. EAC is typically used to protect fingerprints and iris scans. Using EAC is optional. In the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, using EAC is mandatory for all documents issued starting 28 June 2009.
;
Supplemental Access Control (SAC): SAC was introduced by ICAO in 2009 for addressing
BAC weaknesses. It was introduced as a supplement to BAC (for keeping compatibility), but will replace it in the future.
; Shielding the chip: This prevents unauthorised reading. Some countries – including at least the
US – have integrated a very thin metal mesh into the passport's cover to act as a
shield when the passport cover is closed. The use of shielding is optional.
To assure interoperability and functionality of the security mechanisms listed above, ICAO and
German Federal Office for Information Security
The Federal Office for Information Security (, abbreviated as BSI) is the German upper-level federal agency in charge of managing computer and communication security for the German government. Its areas of expertise and responsibility includ ...
(BSI) have specified several test cases. These test specifications are updated with every new protocol and are covering details starting from the paper used and ending in the chip that is included.
Attacks
Since the introduction of biometric passports, several attacks have been presented and demonstrated.
; Non-traceable chip characteristics
: In 2008, a Radboud/Lausitz University team demonstrated that it is possible to determine which country a passport chip is from without knowing the key required for reading it. The team fingerprinted error messages of passport chips from different countries. The resulting lookup table allows an attacker to determine from where a chip originated. In 2010, Tom Chothia and Vitaliy Smirnov documented an attack that allows an individual passport to be traced, by sending specific BAC authentication requests. In 2016, Avoine et al. published a survey on security and privacy issues in passport protocols, where a new technique to track passports is introduced, based on the response time of basic commands.
;
Basic Access Control (BAC)
: In 2005, Marc Witteman showed that the document numbers of
Dutch passports were predictable,
allowing an attacker to guess/crack the key required for reading the chip. In 2006, Adam Laurie wrote software that tries all known passport keys within a given range, thus implementing one of Witteman's attacks. Using online flight booking sites, flight coupons and other public information it's possible to significantly reduce the number of possible keys. In some early biometric passports BAC wasn't used at all, allowing attacker to read the chip's content without providing a key.
; Passive Authentication (PA)
: In 2006, Lukas Grunwald demonstrated that it is trivial to copy passport data from a passport chip into a standard ISO/IEC 14443 smartcard using a standard contactless card interface and a simple file transfer tool. Grunwald used a passport that did not use Active Authentication (anti-cloning) and did not change the data held on the copied chip, thus keeping its
cryptographic signature valid.
: In 2008, Jeroen van Beek demonstrated that not all passport inspection systems check the cryptographic signature of a passport chip. For his demonstration Van Beek altered chip information and signed it using his own document signing key of a non-existing country. This can only be detected by checking the country signing keys that are used to sign the document signing keys. To check country signing keys the
ICAO PKD can be used. Only 5 out of 60+ countries are using this central database. Van Beek did not update the original passport chip: instead an ePassport emulator was used.
: Also in 2008,
The Hacker's Choice implemented all attacks and published code to verify the results. The release included a video clip that demonstrated problems by using a forged
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
passport that is recognized as a valid US passport.
; Active Authentication (AA)
: In 2005, Marc Witteman showed that the secret Active Authentication key can be retrieved using power analysis.
This may allow an attacker to clone passport chips that use the optional Active Authentication anti-cloning mechanism on chips – if the chip design is susceptible to this attack.
: In 2008, Jeroen van Beek demonstrated that optional security mechanisms can be disabled by removing their presence from the passport index file. This allows an attacker to remove – amongst others – anti-cloning mechanisms (Active Authentication). The attack is documented in supplement 7 of Doc 9303 (R1-p1_v2_sIV_0006) and can be solved by patching inspection system software. Note that supplement 7 features vulnerable examples in the same document that – when implemented – result in a vulnerable inspection process.
: In 2014, Calderoni et al. show a procedure to bypass the security protocol that is commonly adopted to prove chip authenticity (Active Authentication) within first-generation electronic passports. The discussed breach is related to some metadata files (EF.COM, EF.SOD) and allows the attacker to conceal those data required by the inspection system during the protocol's execution. This breach may facilitate a malicious user in using fake documents cloned from original ones.
;
Extended Access Control (EAC)
: In 2007, Lukas Grunwald presented an attack that can make EAC-enabled passport chips unusable. Grunwald states that if an EAC-key – required for reading fingerprints and updating certificates – is stolen or compromised, an attacker can upload a false certificate with an issue date far in the future. The affected chips block read access until the future date is reached.
Opposition
Privacy
Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively.
The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...
proponents in many countries question and protest the lack of information about exactly what the passports' chip will contain, and whether they affect
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...
. The main problem they point out is that data on the passports can be transferred with wireless
RFID
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...
technology, which can become a major vulnerability. Although this could allow
ID-check computers to obtain a person's information without a physical connection, it may also allow anyone with the necessary equipment to perform the same task. If the personal information and passport numbers on the chip are not
encrypted, the information might wind up in the wrong hands.
On 15 December 2006, the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
published an article on the British ePassport, citing the above stories and adding that:
:"Nearly every country issuing this passport has a few security experts who are yelling at the top of their lungs and trying to shout out: 'This is not secure. This is not a good idea to use this technology, citing a specialist who states "It is much too complicated. It is in places done the wrong way round – reading data first, parsing data, interpreting data, then verifying whether it is right. There are lots of technical flaws in it and there are things that have just been forgotten, so it is basically not doing what it is supposed to do. It is supposed to get a higher security level. It is not."
and adding that the Future of Identity in the Information Society (FIDIS) network's research team (a body of IT security experts funded by the European Union) has "also come out against the ePassport scheme...
tating thatEuropean governments have forced a document on its people that dramatically decreases security and increases the risk of identity theft."
Most security measures are designed against untrusted citizens (the "provers"), but the scientific security community recently also addressed the threats from untrustworthy verifiers, such as corrupt governmental organizations, or nations using poorly implemented, unsecure electronic systems.
New cryptographic solutions such as
private biometrics are being proposed to mitigate threats of mass theft of identity. These are under scientific study, but not yet implemented in biometric passports.
List of biometric passports
Africa
*
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
: Issued since 5 January 2012. Valid for 10 years for adults, and 5 years for minors. The data page of the passport is from rigid
polycarbonate
Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate ester, carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, toughness, tough materials, and some grades are optically transp ...
plastic and contains a
microchip embedded in which are stored
biometric data of the holder including
fingerprint
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...
s, photo and signature. The data is extracted from the chip with wireless
RFID
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...
technology.
*
Benin
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...
: Issued since 2022.
*
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
: Issued since 8 March 2010. The Botswana passport, which features 48 pages, is written in English and French. The first page features a map of Botswana superimposed with wildlife.
*
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
: Issued since July 2021, costing 110,000 CFA. Valid for 5 years.
*
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
: Issued since 26 January 2016, costing €50. It is noted that the scheme will gradually expand to Cape Verdean diplomatic missions in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
in the future.
*
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
: Egypt does not yet issue biometric passports.
*
Gabon
Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...
: Issued since 23 January 2014.
*
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
: Issued since 1 March 2010 and costing
GH¢ 50–100 for adults and children. The passports contain several other technological characteristics other than biometric technology. However the Ghanaian biometric passports do not carry the "chip inside" symbol (

), which is mandatory for ICAO-standard electronic passports.
, the application fee for regular 32 page passport booklet is
GH₵320 and
GH₵550 for regular 48 page passport booklet. The application fee for expedited 32 page passport booklet is
GH₵350 and
GH₵300 for expedited 48 page passport booklet.
To facilitate the application for and acquisition of Ghanaian passports, Passport Application Centers (PACs) have been set up around the major cities of Ghana, including
Accra
Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...
,
Kumasi
Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...
,
Tamale,
Ho,
Sekondi-Takoradi
Sekondi-Takoradi ( ) is a city in Ghana comprising the Twin cities (geographical proximity), twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan District and the Weste ...
, and in
Sunyani.
22 Diplomatic Missions outside Ghana have the mandate as at November 2020, to issue Biometric Passports to Ghanaians who are abroad. Passports issued for applications received starting 31 March 2019 have a validity period of ten years (it was previously five years).
The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has introduced a 48-page passport booklet (It was previously 32 pages only) available from 1 February 2020.
*
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
: Issued since 1 September 2017. Contain fingerprints, facials and signature including other vital information, which is all ICAO compliant.In mid July 2019, a few foreign embassies such as Berlin, Paris, London, and Washington, DC started processing applications for Kenyans in the diaspora. Kenya plans to invalidate old style passports on 31 December 2021.
*
Lesotho
Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...
: Date of introduction is uncertain. However, the enabling statute was tabled in November 2016.
*
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
: The Libyan government stated that it will start issuing biometric passports of ordinary passports by the end of 2025, although the biometric passports of Diplomatic and Special passports were issued since 2021.
*
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
: Issued since 2014 and costs 110,000
Ariary
The ariary (currency sign, sign: Ar; ISO 4217 code MGA) is the currency of Madagascar. It is notionally subdivided into 5 ''iraimbilanja'' and is one of only two non-decimal currencies currently circulating (the other is the ''Mauritanian ouguiya ...
. Since September 2014, it is mandatory for Malagasy citizens to depart the country with a biometric passport.
*
Mauritania
Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
: Issued since 6 May 2011, costs US$115.68. Valid for 5 years.
*
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
: Issued since 2008 for trial, and in general since 25 September 2009, costs MAD 500 (approximately US$49).
*
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
: Issued since September 2014. The issuance of such passports was suspended 40 days later but was resumed in February 2015.
*
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
: Issued since 8 January 2018.
*
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
: Issued since 2007 as the first in Africa. The harmonized ECOWAS Smart electronic passport issued by the Nigerian Immigrations Service is powered by biometric technology in tandem with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) specifications for international travels.Travelers' data captured in the biometric passport can be accessed instantly and read by any security agent from any spot of the globe through an integrated network of systems configured and linked to a centrally-coordinated passport data bank managed by the Nigerian Immigrations Service.
*
Rwanda
Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...
: Issued since 27 June 2019, and is in compliance with the new
East African Community technical specifications as well as International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Among the new features include a microchip making it tamper-proof. The Rwandan passport is issued Rwandan citizens for international travel. Rwanda started issuing East African Community Biometric Passport also known as E-Passport in June 2019 replacing the old ones that will only stay valid until June 2021, The new passports are valid for five years and ten years. Ordinary, service, and diplomatic passports are issued.
*
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
: Issued since 1st Sept 2015 in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). New book design launched at the same time as the switch to e-passport from Machine Readable Passport (MRP). Book re-designed again in 2022 and electronic chip upgraded for faster processing of bio-metric data. Currently issuing e-passports for Ordinary, Diplomatic and Service books.
*
Somalia
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
: Issued since 10 October 2006, costs US$100 if applied inside of Somalia, and US$150 abroad.
*
South Sudan
South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...
: Issued since 3 January 2012. The new passport are valid for five years.
*
Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
: Issued since May 2009, costs SDG 250 (approximately USD 100), SDG 200 for students and SDG 100 for children. Valid for 10 years, or 7 years for a commercial passport.The new electronic passports are issued in three categories. The citizen's passport (ordinary passport) is issued to ordinary citizens and contains 48 pages. Business men/women who need to travel often have a commercial passport that contains 64 pages. Smaller passports that contain 32 pages only are issued to children. The microprocessor chip contains the holder's information.
*
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
: Issued since 1 January 2018. The Bio-metric Tanzanian passport is one of the strongest passports in Africa. It is in compliance with the new East African Community Passport which eases border crossing for east African community member nationals.
*
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...
: Issued since August 2009, cost then was 30,000 CFA francs. For Togolese residing abroad, the price varies.
*
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
: The Tunisia ministry of interior stated that it will start issuing biometric passports at the end of year 2016 which did not happen.
*
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
: The Zimbabwean government launched the new e-passports on 15 December 2021 at Chiwashira Building in Harare.
Asia
*
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
: Issued since September 2011. Contains digital images of fingerprints, photo and electronic signature of the passport holder. Valid for up to 10 years.
*
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
: Issued since July 2012. Contains digital images of fingerprints, photo and electronic signature of the passport holder. Valid for 10 years.
*
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
: Issued since September 2013. Contains information about the passport holder's facial features, as well as finger and palm prints.
*
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
: Issued since March 20, 2023.
*
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
: Issued since April 2010, biometric machine-readable passports cost for regular delivery, including all taxes, and for express delivery including all taxes. E-passports cost to with all taxes included.
The cost varies depending on the number of pages and the validity of the e-passport.
The e-passport is valid for either five years or ten years depending on the age of the applicant. Bangladesh is the first country in South Asia to issue e-passports for all eligible citizens. The electronic microprocessor chip embedded e-passport has forty-one different security features, including holographic images embossed in thin film laminate, which change colour under light and appear to move.
Demographic and biometric information of the bearer including the fingerprints of all ten fingers,
iris scan, color photograph of the face and
digital signature are stored on the chip in the e-passport.
The Government of Bangladesh issues three different types of e-passports. These are
diplomatic passports with a red cover;
official passports with a blue cover; and regular or ordinary passports with a green cover.
*
Brunei
Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
: Issued since 17 February 2007. The Bruneian ePassport has the same functions as the other biometric passports.
*
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
: Issued since 17 July 2014. The cost for a 5-year passport, issued only to children aged five and under, is US$80; while the 10-year passport, issued to all people older than five, costs US$100.
* Chinese passport, China: On 30 January 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China launched a trial issuance of e-passports for public affairs. The face, fingerprint and other biometric features of the passport holder will be digitalized and stored in pre-installed contactless smart chip in the passport. On 1 July 2011, the Ministry began issuing biometric passports to all individuals conducting public affairs work overseas on behalf of the Chinese government.
Ordinary biometric passports have been introduced by the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Public Security starting from 15 May 2012. The cost of a passport is 200 CNY (approximately US$31) for first time applicants in China and CNY 220 (or US$35) for renewals and passports issued abroad. Effective from 1 July 2017, cost of a biometric ordinary passport is reduced to CNY 160 (approximately US$24) for both first time applicants and renewal applicants. As of April 2017, China had issued over 100 million biometric ordinary passports.
* Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport, Hong Kong: In 2006, the Immigration Department (Hong Kong), Immigration Department announced that Unihub Limited (a PCCW subsidiary company heading a consortium of suppliers, including Keycorp) had won the tender to provide the technology to produce biometric passports. In February 2007, the first biometric passport was introduced. The cover of the new biometric passport remains essentially the same as that of previous versions, with the addition of the "electronic passport" logo at the bottom. However, the design of the inner pages has changed substantially. The design conforms with the document design recommendations of the
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...
. The new ePassport featured in the 2008 Stockholm Challenge Event and was a finalist for the Stockholm Challenge Award in the Public Administration category. The Hong Kong SAR ePassport design was praised on account of the "multiple state-of-the-art technologies [which] are seamlessly integrated in the sophisticated Electronic Passport System (e-Passport System)". The cost for a HKSAR passport is Hong Kong dollar, HKD 370 (or USD 48) for a 32-page passport and HKD 460 (or USD 59) for a 48-page passport.
* Macau Special Administrative Region passport, Macao: Issued since 1 September 2009.
* Indian passport, India: India calls Biometric Passport as ePassport. The Government of India issues three different types of passports – Diplomatic passports; Official passports; and regular/ordinary passports. India initiated the first phase deployment of Biometric Passports in 2008, only to diplomatic passport holders. On 25 June 2008 Indian Passport Authority issued the first Biometric passport to Pratibha Patil, the then President of India. Between 2008 and 2024, Biometric passport rollout for ordinary citizens was in various stages of internal development, testing and tendering.In April 2024, the government has finally started the test rollout of Biometric Passports to ordinary citizens. It started with the testing of the project at Regional Passport Offices (RPO) in Bhubaneswar and Nagpur. Post successful pilot launch and requisite certifications, it will be rolled out at remaining Regional Passport Offices across India in a phased manner in 2025.
* Indonesian passport, Indonesia: 48-page biometric passports cost Rp650,000 (). As of 12 October 2022, the validity of newly issued passports are extended from 5 years to 10 years. Diplomatic and service biometric passports are issued since 19 August 2021.
* Iranian passport, Iran: Issued since July 2007 for diplomatic and service passports, 20 February 2011 for ordinary biometric passports. The cost of a new passport was approximately IRR 1,500,000 (less than US$8) if issued inside Iran, 100 euros if issued overseas.
* Iraqi passport, Iraq: Iraq started issuing the biometric passport to the public in March 2023.
* Israeli passport, Israel: Issued since July 2013 for a 2-year pilot project under the Biometric Database Law (Israel), Biometric Database Law. This was optional. In August 2013, any passport expiring in more than 2 years could be replaced free of charge with a biometric one upon request. Passports expiring within 2 years were charged the full fee. The review of the pilot project (that was supposed to be concluded in 2015) was postponed by order of the Minister of the Interior to a later date, due to the controversy regarding the creation of the Biometric Database rather than storing the biometric data only in the passport's chip, as is the practice in many other countries. In 2015, the duration of the pilot project was extended until 2017. In May 2017, the pilot project ended. Newly issued passports were then required to be biometric. To obtain a biometric passport, an applicant must appear in an Interior Ministry office "to be photographed by the special camera which records information such as facial bone structure, distance between one's eyes, ears to eyes and ratio of facial features one from another. The applicant will also be fingerprinted and all this information will be stored in the new high-tech electronic passport." As of January 2022, Israeli passports issued in the airport or outside of Israel are not biometric, and are generally valid for 5–10 years (1 year if issued as an emergency passport in the airport).
* Japanese passport, Japan: Issued since March 2006. The passports meet requirements of the Visa Waiver Program, U.S Visa Waiver Program which calls for countries to roll out their biometric passports before 26 October 2006.
* Jordanian passport, Jordan: In May 2024, the Jordanian government has announced that the tender to issue Jordanian electronic passports in accordance with international standards has been awarded. The new Jordanian passport will be in line with the requirements of the ICAO. The company to which the tender is awarded will begin its work after obtaining the order to proceed in accordance with legal procedures, and the tender will be implemented within a maximum period of (250) working days.
* Kazakhstani passport, Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan has presented its concept at implementing biometric passport in 2009.
* Kuwaiti passport, Kuwait: Issued since March 2017. By late 2018 older non-biometric passports will no longer be valid for use.
* Laotian passport, Laos: Issued since September 2016.
* Lebanese passport, Lebanon: Issued since 1 August 2016. Lebanese passports are navy blue, with the Cedrus libani, Lebanese Cedar emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. "The Lebanese Republic, Passport" is written on the cover page in both Arabic language, Arabic and French language, French. The contents of the passport are in Arabic, French and English.
* Malaysian passport, Malaysia: Issued since 1998.
Malaysia is however not a member of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and its first biometric passport did not conform to the same standards as the VWP biometric document because the Malaysian biometric passport was issued several years ahead of the VWP requirement. The difference lies in the storage of fingerprint template instead of fingerprint image in the chip, the rest of the technologies are the same. Also the biometric passport was designed to be read only if the receiving country has the authorisation from the Immigration Department of Malaysia, Malaysian Immigration Department. Malaysia started issuing ICAO compliant passports from February 2010.
Malaysia used to issue passports with validity for 2 years and 5 years, but the passport with 2 years validity was withdrawn since January 2015.
The pricing for a Malaysian passport are RM 200 (approximately US$50) with 5 years validity, MYR 100 (approximately US$25) for senior citizens, children below 12, Hajj pilgrims, and students below 21 and studying abroad is MYR 100 and is free for disabled citizens.
* Maldivian passport, Maldives: Issued since 26 July 2006. The new passport follows a completely new design, and features the passport holder's facial and fingerprint information as biometric identifiers. A 32-page Ordinary passport will cost Rf350, while a 64-page Ordinary passport will cost Rf600. Children under the age of 10 years and people applying for passports through diplomatic missions abroad will be issued with a 32-page non-electronic Ordinary passport, which will cost Rf250.
* Mongolian passport, Mongolia: Issued since the end of 2016.
* Nepalese passport, Nepal: Nepal started issuing E-passport from end of 2021. Nepalese writer Satya Mohan Joshi was the first to receive the e-passport. The Nepalis e-passports are produced by IDEMIA, the software that the Passport office uses is also from the same company.
* Omani passport, Oman: Issued since the end of 2014. It consists of 48 pages and is valid for up to 10 years. Omani passports' cover is red and have inscriptions in golden letters indicating the official name of the country at the top and the word "passport" at the bottom both in Arabic and English divided by the coat of arms. The biometric passport symbol, alerting to the presence of a RFID chip inside the document, is at the very bottom of the cover page.
* Pakistani passport, Pakistan: The Government of Pakistan issues three different types of passports. These are Diplomatic passports; Official passports; and Ordinary passports. On March 30, 2022, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the e-passport service, which has twenty-nine new security features added. At this initial stage, the e-passport facility was only available for diplomatic officials and government officials who are issued diplomatic passports and official passports respectively. The issuance of e-passports for Islamabad residents only commenced on June 10, 2023, at DGI&P Headquarters in Islamabad. However, starting from 16 August 2023, the issuance of e-passports extended to all field offices throughout the nation. Over time, this service will also be introduced to Foreign Missions of Pakistan abroad.
* Palestinian Authority passport, Palestine: Issued since September 1, 2022. Costs NIS 200.
* Philippine passport, Philippines: Issued since 11 August 2009, costs about ₱950.
* Qatari passport, Qatar: Issued since 20 April 2008, costs QAR 200.
* Saudi passport, Saudi Arabia: On February 10, 2022; the Saudi Arabian ministry of interior has announced that they began issuing the new electronic Saudi Passport, with the same issuing fees as the past (300 SAR for 5 years and 600 SAR for 10 years).
* Singaporean passport, Singapore: Issued since 15 August 2006, costs SGD 70 if applied for online, by mail or ICA deposit box and SGD 80 if applied for via a Singapore Overseas Mission. Valid for 10 years. The passport now complies with the U.S Visa Waiver Program.
* South Korean passport, South Korea: Issued since 25 August 2008, costs 55,000 Won (USD 55). Validity for 5 years for men who have not served in the National Service, and 10 years for everybody else. On 21 December 2021, issuing the next generation biometric passports to South Korean citizens has begun, which was delayed by one year as planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Syrian passport, Syria: Syria has started issuing biometric passports on 21 August 2023 for all new passports. The fee varies from £100 to £700 based on the period of processing. The validity varies between 2 years for young male citizens (due to military service), up to 6 years for other citizens. The current fee for the urgent passport (1–3 days processing time) makes it the most expensive passport globally.
* Taiwan passport, Taiwan: Issued since 29 December 2008, costs NT$1,300 (approximately US$40) for an ordinary passport with either 3, 5 or 10 years validit
* Tajik passport, Tajikistan: Issued since 1 February 2010.
* Thai passport, Thailand: Diplomats and government officials passports issued from 26 May 2005. From 1 June 2005, a limited quantity of 100 passports a day was issued for Thai citizens, however, on 1 August 2005 a full operational service was installed and Thailand became the first country in Asia to issue an ICAO compliant biometric passport.
* Turkish passport, Turkey: Turkish passports which are compatible with European Union standards have been available since 1 June 2010. Colours of the new biometric passports have also been changed. Accordingly, regular passports; claret red, special passports; bottle green and diplomatic passports wrap black colours. Turkish Minister of the State announced that the government is printing the new passports at government minting office since the private contractor failed to deliver in March 2016. As of January 2025, cost of issuing a 10-year passport in Turkey is Turkish lira, ₺12,409.00 (approximately Euro, €340).
* Turkmen passport, Turkmenistan: Turkmenistan became the first country in ex-USSR, in mid-Asia region to issue an ICAO-compliant biometric passport. The passport is available since 10 July 2008.
* Emirati passport, United Arab Emirates: The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Interior began to issue biometric passports on 11 December 2011, making it the second Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, GCC state to launch biometric passports after Qatar.
* Uzbekistani passport, Uzbekistan: In Uzbekistan on 23 June 2009 Islam Karimov issued a Presidential Decree "On measures to further improve the passport system in the Republic of Uzbekistan." On 29 December 2009 the President of Uzbekistan signed a decree to change the dates for a phased exchange of populations existing passport to the biometric passport. In accordance with this decree, biometric passports were phased in, beginning on 1 January 2011. In the first phase, the biometric passport was issued to employees of ministries, departments and agencies of the republic, individuals who travel abroad or outside the country, as well as citizens who receive a passport in connection with the achievement of a certain age or for other grounds provided by law. The second phase was for the rest of the population who were able to get new passports for the period from 2012 to 2015.
* Vietnamese passport, Vietnam: Issued since March 1st, 2023. As of March 2025, the biometric passport is only being issued in Vietnam. Overseas missions are still issuing non-biometric passports.
Europe
European Union/EFTA
It was planned that, except for Denmark and Irish passport, Ireland, passports of the European Union, EU passports would have digital imaging and
fingerprint
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...
scan biometrics placed on their RFID chips. This combination of biometrics aims to create an unrivaled level of security and protection against fraudulent identification papers. Technical specifications for the new passports have been established by the European Commission. The specifications are binding for the Schengen agreement parties, i.e. the EU countries, except Ireland, and the four European Free Trade Association countries—Iceland, Liechtenstein,
Norway and Switzerland. These countries are obliged to implement machine readable facial images in the passports by 28 August 2006, and fingerprints by 26 June 2009. The European Data Protection Supervisor has stated that the current legal framework fails to "address all the possible and relevant issues triggered by the inherent imperfections of biometric systems".
Irish biometric passports only used a digital image and not fingerprinting. German passports printed after 1 November 2007 contain two fingerprints, one from each hand, in addition to a digital photograph. Romanian passports will also contain two fingerprints, one from each hand. The Netherlands also takes fingerprints and was the only EU member that had plans to store these fingerprints centrally. According to EU requirements, only nations that are signatories to the Schengen acquis are required to add fingerprint biometrics.
In the EU nations, passport prices will be:
* Austrian passport, Austria (available since 16 June 2006): an adult passport costs €75.90, while a chip-free child's version costs €30. As of March 2009 all newly issued adult passports contain fingerprints. Passports are valid for 2 years after issuance for children up to the age of 1; 5 years for children aged 2–11; 10 years for citizens aged 12 and older.
* Belgian passport, Belgium (introduced in October 2004): €71 or €41 for children + local taxes. As of May 2014, passports for adults are valid for 7 years.
* Bulgarian passport, Bulgaria (introduced in July 2009; available since 29 March 2010): BGN 40 (€20) for adults. Passports are valid for 5 years.
* Croatian passport, Croatia (available since 1 July 2009): HRK 390 (€53). The chip contains two fingerprints and a digital photo of the holder. Since 18 January 2010 only biometric passports can be obtained at issuing offices inside Croatia. Diplomatic missions and consular offices must implement new issuing system until 28 June 2010.
* Cypriot passport, Cyprus (available since 13 December 2010): €70, valid for 10 years
* Czech passport, Czechia (available since 1 September 2006): CZK 600 for adults (valid 10 years), CZK 100 for children (valid 5 years). Passports contain fingerprints.
* Danish passport, Denmark (available since 1 August 2006): DKK 890 for adults (valid for 10 years), DKK 150 for children 0–11 (valid for 2 years [age 0–2] or 5 years), DKK 178 for children 12–17 (valid for 5 years), and DKK 378 retirement age (from July 2021 67 years) (valid for 10 years). A new and standardised photo must be supplied too. As of January 2012 all newly issued passports contain fingerprints.
* Estonian passport, Estonia (available since 22 May 2007): EEK 450 (€28.76) (valid for 5 years). As of 29 June 2009, all newly issued passports contain fingerprints.
* Finnish passport, Finland (available since 21 August 2006): €53 (valid for up to 5 years). As of 29 June 2009, all newly issued passports contain fingerprints.
* French passport, France (available since April 2006): €86 or €89 (depending whether applicant provides photographs), valid for 10 years. , all newly issued passports contain fingerprints with the exception of emergency passports that hold a validity of 1 year.
* German passport, Germany (available since November 2005): ≤23 year old applicants (valid for 6 years) €37.50 and >24 years (valid 10 years) €70. Passports issued from 1 November 2007 onwards include fingerprints.
* Greek passport, Greece (available since 26 August 2006): €84.40 (valid for 3 years for children up to 14, valid for 10 years for adults). Since June 2009, passports contain fingerprints.
* Hungarian passport, Hungary (available since 29 August 2006): HUF 7,500 (€26), valid for 5 years, HUF 14,000 (€48.50) valid for 10 years. As of 29 June 2009, all newly issued passports contain fingerprints.
* Irish passport, Ireland: Biometric passport booklets have been available since 16 October 2006, and Biometric passport cards since October 2015. 34-page passport booklets are priced at €75, 66-page booklets at €105, both valid for 10 years. For children aged between 3 and 18 years the price is €26.50 and the passport booklets are valid for 5 years. Infants' passport booklets for those under 3 years cost €16 and expire 3 years after issue. Irish biometric passport cards are only available to adults of 18 years and over who already have an Irish passport booklet and cost €35. They expire on the same date as the holder's Irish passport booklet or 5 years after issue, whichever is the shorter period. (Ireland is not a signatory to the Schengen Acquis and has no obligation or plans to implement fingerprint biometrics.)
* Italian passport, Italy (available since 26 October 2006): €116, valid for 10 years. As of January 2010 newly issued passports contain fingerprints.
* Latvian Passport, Latvia (available since 20 November 2007): an adult passport costs €30, or €20 if received together with eID, valid for 10 or 5 years.
* Lithuanian passport, Lithuania (available since 28 August 2006): €43. For children up to 16 years old, valid max 5 years. For persons over 16 years old, valid for 10 years.
* Maltese passport, Malta (available since 8 October 2008): €70 for persons over 16 years old, valid for 10 years, €35 for children between 10 and 16 years (valid for 5 years) and €14 for children under 10 years (valid for 2 years).
* Dutch passport, Netherlands (available since 28 August 2006): Approximately €11 on top of regular passport (€38.33) cost €49.33. Passports issued from 21 September 2009 include fingerprints. Dutch identity cards are lookalike versions of the holder's page of the passport but do not contain fingerprints.
* Polish passport, Poland (available since 28 August 2006): PLN 140 (€35) for adults, PLN 70 for children aged under 13, free for seniors 70+ years, valid 10 years (5 years for children aged below 13). Passports issued from 29 June 2009 include fingerprints of both index fingers.
* Portuguese passport, Portugal (available since 31 July 2006 – special passport; 28 August 2006 – ordinary passport): €65 for all citizens valid for 5 years. All passports have 32 pages.
* Romanian passport, Romania (available since 31 December 2008): RON 258 for citizens over the age of 12, RON 234 for citizens under the age of 12, valid for 10 years for those over the age of 18, 5 years for those over the age of 12 to 18, and for 3 years for those under 12. As of 19 January 2010, new passport includes both facial images and fingerprints. Temporary passports valid for only one year can be issued for the price of RON 96 and is issued in less than 3 working days.
* Slovak passport, Slovakia (available since 15 January 2008): an adult passport (>13 years) costs €33.19 valid for 10 years, while a chip-free child's (5–13 years) version costs €13.27 valid for 5 years and for children under 5 years €8.29, but valid only for 2 years. The latest version was issued in 2014 and contains a contactless chip in the biodata card that meets ICAO specifications.
* Slovenian passport, Slovenia (available since 28 August 2006): €42.05 for adults, valid for 10 years. €35.25 for children from 3 to 18 years of age, valid for 5 years. €31.17 for children up to 3 years of age, valid for 3 years. All passports have 32 pages, a 48-page version is available at a €2.50 surcharge. As of 29 June 2009, all newly issued passports contain fingerprints.
* Spanish passport, Spain (available since 28 August 2006) at a price of €26 (price at 2018), free passports are issued for citizens that hold a "Familia Numerosa" document. They include fingerprints of both index fingers as of October 2009. (Aged <30 a Spanish passport is valid for 5 years, otherwise they remain valid for 10 years).
* Swedish passport, Sweden (available since October 2005): SEK 400 (valid for 5 years). As of 1 January 2012, new passport includes both facial images and fingerprints.
In the EFTA, passport prices will be:
* Icelandic passport, Iceland Issued since 23 May 2006 and costing ISK 5,100 (ISK 1,900 for under 18 and over 67).
* Liechtenstein passport, Liechtenstein biometric passports issued since 26 October 2006. The technical specifications are binding for Liechtenstein
as it became part of the Schengen area in 2011. The cost of the passport ranges from CHF 50 (children under 12) to CHF 250 for adults.
* Norwegian passport, Norway Issued since 2005, costs Norwegian krone, NOK 450 for adults, or c. €50, NOK 270 for children. Increased to NOK 570/342 in 2020. In 2007 the Norwegian government launched a ‘multi-modal’ biometric enrolment system supplied by Motorola. Motorola's new system enabled multiple public agencies to digitally capture and store fingerprints, 2D facial images and signatures for passports and visas. The Norwegian biometrics company IDEX ASA has begun development of electronic identity document, ID cards (eID) with fingerprint security technology for use throughout the EU.
* Swiss passport, Switzerland Issued since 4 September 2006, costs CHF 140 for adults and CHF 60 for children under 18 years. Since 1 March 2010, all issued passports are biometric, containing a photograph and two fingerprints recorded electronically.
Other European countries
* Albanian passport, Albania: Issued since May 2009, costs 7500 Albanian lek, Lekë (€75). Valid for 10 years. Contains fingerprints, the bearer's photo and all the data written on the passport.
* Belarusian passport, Belarus: Issued since 1 September 2021, Valid for 10 years. Contains fingerprints and facial photo, the bearer's photo and all the data written on the passport.
* Bosnia and Herzegovina passport, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Issued since 15 October 2009 and costing 50 Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, KM (€25.65). Valid 10 years for adults and 5 years for younger than 18. On 1 June 2010 Bosnia and Herzegovina issued its first Extended Access Control, EAC passport.
* Georgian passport, Georgia: Issued since 2010. Valid for 10 years to adults, costing 150 Georgian lari, lari if issued at tenth business day. The same day issuance will cost 350 lari. The price of the photo (3 Lari) needs to be paid additionally. There are discounts, e.g. a 50% discount for persons under age 18.
* Passport of Kosovo, Kosovo: Issued since 31 October 2011.
* Moldovan passport, Moldova: Issued since 1 January 2008, costing approximately 760 Moldovan Leu, MDL (€45) and is obligatory from 1 January 2011. The passport of the Republic of Moldova with biometric data contains a chip which holds digital information, including the holder's signature, as well as the traditional information. It is valid for 7 years (for persons over 7) and 4 years (for persons less than 7) respectively. It was introduced as a request of European Union to safeguard the borders between the E.U. and Republic of Moldova.
* Montenegrin passport, Montenegro: Issued since 2008, costing €33.
* North Macedonia passport, North Macedonia: Issued since 2 April 2007, costs MKD 1,500 or c. €22.
* Russian passport, Russia: Issued since 2006. Since 3 August 2018, they cost 5,000 Russian ruble, rubles (approximately US$80) and use printed data, photo and fingerprints and are BAC-encrypted. Biometric passports issued after 1 March 2010 are valid for 10 years. Russian biometric passports are currently issued within Russia and in all of its consulates. From 1 January 2015, the passports contain fingerprints.
* Serbian passport, Serbia: Issued since 7 July 2008, costs RSD 3,600 or approximately €32. Valid for 10 years, 5 years for children aged 3 to 14, and for 3 years for children aged 3 or less.
* Ukrainian passport, Ukraine: It was first planned to issue Biometric passports in Ukraine, biometric passports and identity cards on 1 January 2013. They started being issued since January 2015. Starting August 2021, Ukrainian citizens can use digital passports and identity cards in Diia, the Diia app for all legal purposes within Ukraine.
In Ukraine, the term "digital passport" is used to denote only the fully digital version of the biometric passport accessible via the Diia mobile app.
* British passport, United Kingdom: United Kingdom introduced it in March 2006, initially costing £72.50 for adults (valid for 10 years) and £46 for children under the age of 16 (valid for 5 years).
* Sovereign Military Order of Malta passport, Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Issued since 2005 the SMOM diplomatic and service passports include biometric features and are compliant with ICAO standards.
North America
* Barbados passport, Barbados: Issued since September 2018.
[
]
* Belizean passport, Belize: Issued since 24 October 2022.
* Canadian passport, Canada: Issued since 1 July 2013. It contains the bearer's name, gender, and date and place of birth and a digital portrait of their face.
[
]
* Costa Rican passport, Costa Rica: Issued since March 7, 2022.
* Commonwealth of Dominica, Dominica: Issued since July 26, 2021.
* Honduran passport, Honduras: Issued since March 22, 2022. Available to all citizens, biometric passports replaced regular passports. Regular passports are valid until expiry date. The price has remained the same at US$35 for a 5-year period and US$50 for a 10-year period. The passport is ICAO-Compliant with the biometric symbol (

) printed on the biographical data page as well as at the bottom on the front cover.
* Mexican passport, Mexico: Issued since 5 October 2021.
* Panamanian passport, Panama: Issued since 2014, costs $100.
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines passport, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Issued since 4 March 2014.
* United States passport, United States: The biometric version of the U.S. passport (sometimes referred to as an electronic passport) has descriptive data and a digitized passport photo on its contactless chips, and does not have fingerprint information placed onto the contactless chip. However, the chip is large enough (64 kilobytes) for inclusion of biometric identifiers. The U.S. United States Department of State, Department of State first issued these passports in 2006, and since August 2007 issues biometric passports only. Non-biometric passports are valid until their expiration dates. Although a system able to perform a facial-recognition match between the bearer and his or her image stored on the contactless chip is desired, it is unclear when such a system will be deployed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at its ports of entry. A high level of security became a priority for the United States after the September 11 attacks, attacks of 11 September 2001. High security required cracking down on counterfeit passports. In October 2004, the production stages of this high-tech passport commenced as the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) issued awards to the top bidders of the program. The awards totaled to roughly $1,000,000 for startup, development, and testing. The driving force of the initiative is the U.S. Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 (also known as the "Border Security Act"), which states that such smartcard identity cards will be able to replace visa (document), visas. As for foreigners travelling to the U.S., if they wish to enter U.S. visa-free under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), they are now required to possess machine-readable passports that comply with international standards. Additionally, for travellers holding a valid passport issued on or after 26 October 2006, such a passport must be a biometric passport if used to enter the U.S. visa-free under the VWP. In November 2018, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Delta Air Lines opened the nation's first curb-to-gate biometric terminal, which promised to improve aviation security while moving travelers faster through screening.
Oceania
* Australian passport, Australia: Issued since October 2005, where as of 1 January 2025 non-urgent passports costs AU$412 for adults and AU$208 for minors aged under 16 years and adults aged 75 years and over. The Passport contains the same personal information that is on the colour photo PVC page, which includes a large and small digitized photograph. Australia does not use fingerprinting of incoming passengers. Valid for 10 years for adults and 5 years for minors under 16 years and optional for adults 75 years and over.
* Fijian passport, Fiji: Issued since 19 September 2019.
* New Zealand passport, New Zealand: Issued since November 2005, like Australia and the US, New Zealand is also using the facial biometric identifier. There are two identifying factors: the small symbol on the front cover (

), indicating that an electronic chip has been embedded in the passport and the polycarbonate leaf in the front (version 2009) of the book, inside which the chip is located. Like Australia, New Zealand has installed SmartGates into airports to allow New Zealand ePassport and ePassport holders of 4 other countries (Australia, Canada, UK, and US) to clear immigration controls more rapidly, (recently more countries have been added on to the list, but still not all ePassports) and facial recognition technology has been installed at immigration gates. The cost for a non-urgent passport is NZ$199 (when applying online or in person in New Zealand) for adults, and NZ$115 for children. Passport were valid for five years if issued before December 2015. However, in 2015 the New Zealand government approved for the reinstatement of a 10-year validity period for passports, with all passports issued after December 2015 being valid for 10 years.
South America
* Argentine passport, Argentina: Issued since June 2012, costs 35,000 pesos (USD 34). Valid for 10 years
* Bolivian passport, Bolivia: Issued since 1 February 2019 and costing BOB 550 (USD 79.13). Valid 6 years. The Bolivian ePassport has the same functions as the other biometric passports as regulations from OASI.
* Brazilian passport, Brazil: Issued since December 2006. However, just in December 2010 it began to issue passports with microchips, first in the capital Brasília and Goiás state. Since the end of January 2011, this last is available to be issued all over Brazil. Valid for 10 years for adults and costs R$156.07 (approximately €35). In December 2014, the Federal Police Department extended the validity of the document, from five to ten years.
* Chilean passport, Chile: Issued since 2 September 2013. Valid for 5 years and since 1 February 2020 10 years.
* Colombian passport, Colombia: Issued since 1 September 2015, costing COP 169,000 (approx. USD 48).
* Ecuadorian passport, Ecuador: Issued since 14 September 2020.
* Paraguayan passport, Paraguay: The Paraguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs began issuing biometric passports in April 2010, initially only to Paraguayan citizens who applied through consulates and embassies abroad. As of July 10, 2023, the Paraguayan government has standardized the biometric passport for all citizens within the national territory.
* Peruvian passport, Peru: On 21 February 2016, the ''Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones'' announced that the first Peruvian biometric passports would be delivered by 26 February 2016. It features a new cover, along with several security improvements, in order to be exempted for visas for the Schengen Area. It will cost PEN 98.50, approximately USD 28, making it the cheapest passport in Latin America.
* Uruguayan passport, Uruguay: The Uruguayan Ministry of the Interior started to issue biometric passports to Uruguayan citizens on 16 October 2015. The new passport complies with the standards set forth by the Visa Waiver Program of the United States. However for naturalised citizens, the passport is not ICAO 9303 compliant as the country of birth is used in the "nationality" field and associated MRZ leading to errors being returned on usage (as noted in section 7.1 of ICAO 9303 part 3).
* Venezuelan passport, Venezuela: Issued after July 2007, Venezuela was the first Latin American country issuing passports including RFID chips along other major security improvements. The chip has photo and fingerprints data.
Biometric passport photo requirements
The ICAO standard sets a 35x45 mm image with adequate resolution with the following requirements:
* The facial image shall depict a true likeness of the rightful holder of the passport and shall not be digitally altered or enhanced to change the subject's appearance in any way
* A close up of the head and shoulders with the subject facing square on and looking directly at the camera with both eyes visible and with a neutral expression with the mouth closed
* Both edges of the face must be clearly visible. The subject shall not be looking, portrait-style, over one shoulder
* The eyes must be open, and there must be no hair obscuring them
* Glasses: the photograph must show the eyes clearly with no lights reflected in the glasses. The glasses shall not have tinted lenses. Avoid heavy frames if possible and ensure that the frames do not cover any part of the eyes. Glasses should appear only if permanently worn.
* Head coverings shall not be accepted except in circumstances that the issuing State specifically approves. The face must be visible from the hairline to the chin and forward of the ears.
* A uniform light-coloured background shall be used to provide a contrast to the face and hair. For colour portraits, light blue, beige, light brown, pale grey or white are recommended for the background
Though some countries like USA use a 2x2 inch photo format (51x51 mm), they usually crop it to be closer to 35:45 in ratio when issuing a passport.
See also
* International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis
* International Civil Aviation Organization Public Key Directory
* Polycarbonate e-passport
* Electronic identification, National biometric ID card
References
External links
*
International Civil Aviation OrganizationICAO Doc 9303 Series. Machine Readable Travel Documents. Seventh Edition, 2015.ICAO Document 9303, Part 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biometric Passport
Authentication methods
Biometrics
Data security
Information sensitivity
Passports
Radio-frequency identification