Nepal launches e-passport service with installed chips consisting biometric data
In a first of a kind-initiative, Nepal has introduced e-passport service, which will ensure with installed chips consisting of biometric data. The Himalayan nation’s Foreign Ministry in a statement said that applicants can start applying for fresh e-passports from November 18. The machine-readable passports launched by Nepal in 2010 will continue to remain valid till 2031. The handwritten passports were completely phased in 2015.
It is for the first time that Nepal has announced adopting e-passport services and using a chip-based identification document. To mark the commencement, Narayan Khadka, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nepal inaugurated the first epassport personalisation centre at Tripureshwor in Kathmandu on Wednesday. On the occasion, the first e-passport was presented to 102-yearold academician, cultural expert, and litterateur Satya Mohan Joshi by the Minister.
“The department plans to issue e-passports in a full manner within three weeks, while District Administration Offices and other offices authorised to issue passports in various parts of the country will start issuing e-passports by December, and Nepali diplomatic missions abroad will issue e-passports in January 2022,” stated a press statement on the announcement.
