The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is to launch updated machine-readable passports for emergency use on Tuesday next week.
The new version of the chipless passport is equipped with better anti-counterfeiting features, Bureau of Consular Affairs Deputy Director Chen Shang-yu (陳尚友) told a news conference yesterday.
The passport is to be issued by Taiwan’s embassies and missions abroad to people who have to return to Taiwan urgently and are unable to wait for an e-passport to be issued, he said.
Photo: CNA
The passport would be valid for up to 12 months, he said.
Taiwan introduced machine-readable passports compliant with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regulations in 1995, and an updated version with more advanced security features was released in 2000. In 2002, an ultra-thin high-security overlay was added to the passports.
In December 2008, Taiwan launched its e-passports, featuring an ICAO-compliant chip that contains the passport holder’s biometric data, which was further protected by a digital signature.
A new e-passport design was introduced in 2021, which incorporated the nation’s official English name, the “Republic of China,” with the national emblem, while the font size of “Taiwan” was enlarged to make the passport more distinguishable from a Chinese passport.
The new machine-readable passports are designed to be consistent in appearance with the current e-passports, but unlike the 52-page e-passports, they only have 16 pages, Chen said.
The only difference between the new machine-readable passport and the e-passport is that the latter has a graphic on its cover representing an embedded chip, he said.
Passport applications remain high, but the wait time has been reduced after the bureau allocated more slots for online appointments and added an additional processing site.
However, 10 to 20 percent of people who make appointments online fail to show up, Chen said.
From this month, the bureau is sending reminders via e-mail to those who have booked a slot four days prior to their appointment, he said.
Applicants can cancel their appointments and release the slot to other people in need, he said.
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