In the Budget speech on 1st February 2022, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman announced, the country will soon introduce e-Passport for its citizens. However, the concept of e-Passports is not new to our country. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) initiated the first phase of e-Passports in India in 2008 by issuing e-Passports to the then President – Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister – Dr. Manmohan Singh and Vice President – Mohammad Hamid Ansari, along with 20,000 officials and bureaucrats.
With this facility soon to be available to Indians, lets figure out what the difference between an e-Passport and a traditional passport is, and what the benefits of having an e-Passport over a traditional passport are.
In theory, an e-Passport is a traditional passport with a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chip installed in it. All the data displayed at the information page of the passport is stored electronically on this chip. This includes the date of issue and expiration of passport, passport holder’s name, age, gender, date of birth, place of birth, etc. It is also called a Biometric passport as the chip also includes biometrics such as fingerprints, iris scan and digital photograph. Apart from these, the chip also has a unique identification number and a digital signature to avoid tampering of information.
Apart from a chip and the international biometric symbol at the bottom of the cover, it is in no way different than any traditional passport in terms of application, information and verification.
There is no difference in terms of pricing compared to a traditional passport, irrespective of whether you are issuing it for the first time or getting an old passport renewed. The price for a 36 page booklet will be approx. INR 1500 and for a 60 page booklet it will be around INR 2000.
Malaysia was the first country in the world to issue e-Passports to its citizens in 1998 (before the ICAO standards were issued). Belgium was the first country in 2004 to issue a fully ICAO complaint e-Passport. Slowly more than 120 other countries such as the US, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Egypt, China, Japan, UAE, Turkey, Russia, Canada, Brazil, etc. started issuing e-Passports to their citizens. In 2020, Bangladesh became the first country in South-Asia to issue an e-Passport. India is the latest country to join this list.
We as a country have come a long way from fully handwritten and stamped to fully automated and electronically printed passports. The issuance of e-Passport in India will definitely take us a huge step forward in the world of document digitisation. Air travel will become more hassle-free and the immigration check will be less time-consuming adding pleasant experiences to your memories of travels.
Dubai Visa Online | 14 days Dubai Visa | 30 days Dubai Visa | 60 days Dubai Visa | Dubai Transit Visa | UAE Visa | Singapore Visa | Malaysia Visa | Thailand Visa | Sri Lanka Visa | US Visa | UK Visa | Schengen Visa | Canada Visa | Australia Visa | New Zealand Visa | France Visa | Italy Visa | Turkey Visa Online | Philippines Visa | Cambodia Visa Online | Vietnam Visa Online | Oman Visa
Dubai Tour Packages | Singapore Tour Packages | Thailand Tour Packages | Malaysia Tour Packages | Sri Lanka Tour Packages | US Tour Packages | United Kingdom Tour Packages | South Africa Tour Packages | Europe Tour Packages | Bali Tour Packages | Mauritius Tour Packages | Maldives Tour Packages | Cordelia Cruise Packages |
India Tour Packages | Goa Tour Packages | Kerala Tour Packages | Leh Ladakh Tour Packages | Himachal Tour Packages | Andaman Tour Packages | Rajasthan Tour Packages | Uttarakhand Tour Packages | Jammu and Kashmir Tour Packages
Honeymoon Packages | Adventure Packages | Visa on Arrival Packages | Family Packages | Romantic Packages | Weekend Getaways Packages
Pune Bangalore Flights | Chennai Delhi Flights | Bangalore Chennai Flights | Mumbai Delhi Flights | Bangalore Hyderabad Flights | Ahmedabad Goa Flights | Mumbai Kolkata Flights | Hyderabad Delhi Flights | Bangalore Goa Flights | Mumbai Goa Flights
Delhi Dubai Flights | Delhi Bangkok Flights | Delhi Toronto Flights | Mumbai Dubai Flights | Delhi Singapore Flights |Delhi London Flights | Delhi Kathmandu Flights | Mumbai London Flights | Chennai Singapore Flights | Mumbai Singapore Flights | Delhi New York Flights |Kolkata Bangkok Flights
Dubai, as everyone knows, is one of the most iconic cities in the world. With…
As temperatures start soaring off the charts in summer, as you start sweating profusely even…
With the holiday season in full swing, tourist destinations across the globe are starting to…
According to the Global Travel Trends Report for 2025, 77% of people plan on taking…
As winter racks up some of its record-breaking temperatures, it is always a good idea…
The world is filled with vast continents, sprawling metropolises, and endless landscapes However, have you…