Cabinet plans to narrow use of paper passports of Ukrainian citizens by late 2017
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine plans to narrow the use of old paper passports of Ukrainian citizens, replacing them by electronic ones, according to cabinet resolution No. 1428 of December 23, 2015 published on Monday.
The cabinet approved the concept of the creation of the national identification system for Ukrainian citizens, foreigners and persons without citizenship.
According to the document, today the population register mainly inherited from the Soviet times is in effect, when electronic resources were not used, and the major volume of information is stored in the paper archives. The State Migration Service issues Ukrainian citizen passports, not using the electronic records. There is no integrated database of the issued documents at the national or regional levels. District departments of the State Migration Service exchange information via paper mail, and there is no mechanism for verifying data. The passport form is not enough protected.
According to the concept, some public authorities created electronic databases, but the measures were not systemic and the flaws of the previous system were not removed.
The trustworthy identification of persons and the provision of the relevant services via the creation of the national Ukrainian citizen identification system remains the important issue which the European Union focused on in the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan for Ukraine.
According to the document, the national Ukrainian citizen identification system foresees the issue of passports in the form of an electronic card, the creation of the reliable mechanism for verifying personal data, which would allow checking information about persons remotely, using the electronic service.
The concept has two stages. At the first stage (January-April 2016) new models for indentifying persons and checking data will be designed. The State Migration Service will receive access to the public registers and other databases belonged to the state or companies, institutions and organizations. At the first stage it is planned to realize pilot projects on the use of electronic tools for indentifying persons by the State Migration Service, buy equipment and train staff.
At the second stage (June 2016 – December 2017) it is planned to narrow the use of old passports of Ukrainian citizens and introduce special programs on the exchange of paper passports to electronic cards; optimize the existing services and design new ones, integrate the passports with other initiatives of electronic management; develop channels to have access to the new services and ways of electronic identification.