Issuance of biometric passports to start in April at earliest
The issuance of biometric passports in Ukraine will start no earlier than in April, the Segodnia Newspaper reported with reference to the Ukrainian Internal Ministry's press service.
According to the newspaper, the law provides that as of January 1, 2013, the Cabinet just starts work on the preparation and issuance of biometric documents: it will adopt a resolution about the appearance of the document forms and the charges for the Interior Ministry's services. The Cabinet will also hold a tender for the right to print the forms, etc. The preparation of document forms will take up to three months.
According to the ministry, a unified state demographic register should be created first based on the data of the register of individuals of the Interior Ministry. The broad access to the system should be provided together with the protection from hacking.
As reported, the law of Ukraine on a unified state demographic register and identity documents, which envisages the introduction of electronic passports for Ukrainians, came into force on December 6.
The Verkhovna Rada passed the law on November 20, taking into account proposals made by the president. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych signed the law on November 29.
The document foresees the introduction of electronic passports containing electronic chips with biometric information for traveling abroad, according to the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
According to the law, the passports of Ukrainian citizens will be produced in the form of cards with contactless smart chips and issued no later than 30 calendar days from the date of the submission of a relevant application. The electronic passports will include the name of the state, the name of the document, the full name of the holder, the holder's gender, citizenship, date of birth, and a unique number in the register, the number of the document, the date of the document's expiry, the date of issue of the document, the name of the agency that issued the document, the place of birth, a photo and the signature of the holder.
