The Indonesian Immigration Office has made official plans to launch e-passports with enhanced security features, according to a FutureGov report. Immigration officials have prepared nearly 10,000 e-passports to be issued in its initial trial phase. With this announcement Indonesia joins Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as Southeast Asian countries that have begun issuing e-passports. A 48-page […]

Gemalto announced that the Swedish National Police Board renewed its five year agreement on ePassports and eID Cards. The contract was signed with AB Svenska Pass, a Gemalto company, who manages the end-to-end delivery process including the live enrollment solution in Sweden, production of secure travel documents, as well as operated issuance services. The contract […]

LaserCard has received a purchase order valued at approximately $2.1 million for chip-ready, optical security media-based credentials for the Saudi Arabia National ID Card program. The ID cards are issued to Saudi citizens nationwide for identification, e-government and regional travel purposes. LaserCard’s ID credentials are trusted by governments worldwide to protect the personal identification of […]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is hoping to have real-time access to the U.S. Department of Defense’s biometrics database to assist with their ability to better determine if any foreign visitors are dangerous or wanted by police upon their entry into the United States, according to a Federal News Radio article. As foreign […]

LaserCard Corporation announced receipt of an order for approximately $8.6 million for optical security media cards to be issued under the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Permanent Resident Card, or Green Card, program. Delivery is scheduled for completion in August. The U.S. Green Card has been recognized by U.S. forensic experts as “effectively putting mass […]

The issuance of electronic passports is going well with approximately 250 million documents in circulation as of October, according to Barry Kefauver, principal at the consulting firm, Falls Hills Associates LLC. On the other hand, deployment of inspection systems to read the contactless chip in these books is not going as well. Mandates were the […]

Select Israeli citizens deemed to not be a threat to American homeland security and willing to submit biometric and biographical data will be allowed to partake in the U.S. expedited traveler security clearance program Global Entry, according to a Ynet News article. The decision, which was made jointly by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the […]

The Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, has announced the intentions of the country to move forward with biometric data collection for visa applications in Sri Lanka, according to an Embrace Australia article. Other countries included in the first wave of introducing biometric collection for visa applications are Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Yemen, United Arab […]

Gemalto announced that it has started to deliver its electronic passport solution to Korea’s National Printer, Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation, through its local partner LG CNS. Gemalto provides its ePassport Operating System that speeds up border control. Its Sealys ePassport solution aims to increase personalization performance, significantly reducing issuing cost. In Korea, the […]

3M Security Systems has debut its new multilateral border security program designed to enable quick, secure travel between Caribbean nations: the CARIPASS. The CARIPASS is a voluntary travel card program that provides secure and simple border crossings for citizens and legal residents in the 10 Caribbean Community nations. To participate, eligible travelers must pre-enroll at […]