Gemalto providing Portugal with eIDs
09 November, 2009
category: Biometrics, Government
Gemalto announced that Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda (INCM), the Portuguese Mint and National Printing Office, has started issuing its Sealys Resident cards, compliant with the electronic European Residence Permit (eERP) specifications and the latest ICAO Extended Access Control standards.
Gemalto is delivering 150,000 cards per year as of 2009 and over the next two years and supplied INCM with its Coesys Issuance personalization solution. The smart card permits improved document security and by deploying them, Portugal is fulfilling the European Union (EU) recommendation that requires all 27 Member States to roll out the eERP from 2010.
The electronic European Residence Permit card provides temporary residence entitlement for non-EU citizens for any stay more than three months, and for some shorter work-related stays. It embeds a contactless chip which securely stores facial image and two fingerprints, simplifying residency entitlement verification.
As defined in the eERP specifications, the contactless interface is mandatory and meets the same EU standards as biometric e-passports do. The permit also stores id-numbers such as social security and taxpayer identifiers.