Over 30,000 ePassports have been issued by Dominica since the launch of the program in 2021, Minister for National Security Rayburn Blackmoore has announced.
The government on the island said the new passport is an initiative to achieve maximum security standards for Dominica’s passport holders.
“To date, 31,347 passports have been printed and issued,” Blackmoore said. “As you may aware, a tour for the processing of application of Dominican citizens via the mobile kits was recently completed in St Martin, St Thomas, St Croix, and St John. This was met tremendous support and enthusiasm.”
According him, 290 passport applications were processed in St Martin, 191 in St Thomas, 161 in St Croix and St John.
The government said the high-tech features in the new passports are vital in addressing address the growing threats of identity theft, enhance border security and keep its citizens and residents safe.
Among the features on the new passport is an embedded electronic chip which is equipped with biometric capabilities and facial recognition.
Other perks, according to the minister, include biodata pages which are resilient to water, the laser engravement as well as 50 pages as opposed to 32 pages which the current machine-readable passport contains.
