The department will issue a total of 7 types of passports that too in new colors
The Department of Passports will begin issuing E-Passports (biometric passports) in Nepal from today. It can be count as on of the significant breakthrough in Nepal’s Passport Regime. The agency is finally ready to issue E-Passports in Nepal, which will eventually replace the current machine-readable passports after the previous KP Oli government canceled three consecutive global tender announcements last year (MRP). Here, we will learn more about e-passports in Nepal.
What are E-Passports?
An e-passport, also known as a digital or biometric passport, verifies the passport holder’s identification by verifying name, date of birth, and other biographic information. It makes use of contactless smart card technology, which includes a microprocessor chip and an antenna for both power and communication.
Why Passport Department is taking this action?
Officials said Nepal would issue the second-generation e-passports in compliance .With the requirements set forth by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Which provides the country a competitive advantage. The new passport will be one of the best in reliability, security, and convenience for travelers. It is also expected to prevent diplomatic passports from being misused or stolen.
Testimonials
“With the issuance of new passports, Nepal status will grow in world’s passport ranking”. He added, “We are going to issue one of the best passports in Asia in terms of security, design, and other features”.
“Technology also plays a very important role so definitely it will boost the rankings of our passports’ credibility. It will be hassle-free too and secure. It will be widely recognized too. In terms of other technological aspects, this will make travel easier,” said Mainali.
“Since it protects against identity theft, hopefully, this will stop the theft of diplomatic passports also,” said Nischal Nath Pandey, Director of the Center for South Asian Studies.
Former joint secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arjun Kant Mainali said that with the adoption of the new passports as per the global standard, the ranking of the Nepali passports will go up.
“It is not due to quality of the passports that Nepal has been ranked lower,” one joint secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, adding, “It is due to the country’s poor economic status, weak immigration system, conflict, and Nepalis overstaying their visas abroad, among other things.
Technically the new passport is going to be one of the best, reliable, secure, and hassle-free for travelers, but passport rankings have more to do with politics, the joint secretary said.
Dissemination
The ceremony will take place at the Department of Passport’s new headquarters in Tripureshwor. Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka will unveil an e-passport. Meanwhile, The department’s office in Narayanhiti is currently in charge of distribution.
Satya Mohan Joshi, a 102-year-old historian, will receive the country’s first e-passport from Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka.
Design outlook
Moving forward, the department will issue seven different types of passports, all of which will be in new colors. The normal passport’s cover, which is now green, will be given a chocolate brown makeover. While diplomatic passports will have a crimson red cover. Official passports will be navy blue, whereas peacekeeping documents will be a tiger orange color. The rest of the book is black, chocolate brown, and slate-brown, respectively, for the journey, temporary, and seaman’s record book.
All biometric passports will have a hot foil stamp of the national coat of arms with Nepal’s new flag on the front.
Final thoughts
E-Passports in Nepal will probably serve to strengthen security while also accepting a set of widely accepted international cooperation criteria. However, it remains to see how things will turn out in the long run. And whether the Department of Passports will be able to keep pace with the rapid demand. We hope that this will put an end to passport fabrication and the misuse of diplomatic passports.
You can also read these to learn more about this though this site and refer these articles. Also, if you don’t want to miss out on our regular tech news, make sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our website notifications. You’ll get notified as soon as we publish more content similar to this.
ALSO READ: Windows 10 21H2 Update Released | Will this be the last?
