The Era Of e-Passports is Here, But are We Laggards?
Heartiest congratulations to Germany and all Germans for being rated as having the 'most powerful' passport in the world. The latest ranking, released by Passport index.org, took into account the number of visa-free regions and countries that a certain passport has access to. The recognition is only a reflection of how the nation is perceived by its peers. The same report, unfortunately, places the Indian passport at a lowly 78.As compared to the German passport being welcomed in 158 countries without visa, the Indian passport-holder can avail of the same facilities in only 46 destinations. Traveling without visa is, of course, a function of good diplomatic relations among nations but incidents of crime, terrorism and fraudulent passports also determine whether a particular country’s passport will be accorded a visa-free travel status.
While we are better off than Afghanistan – the country’s passport is accorded a visa-free status by only 23 nations and no prizes for guessing why - India has the dubious reputation of having a large number of forged passports. Detection and subsequent prosecution are, however, few and far between. According to media reports, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are apparently the key centres, where passport applicants submit the maximum number of fake addresses and credentials. This is one of key reasons why the Indian passport is considered low on reliability among its global peers.
How does one tackle the problem?
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an UN specialised agency, in its directive had mandated gradual upgradation of regular passports to e-passports for all its 193 member states, India being one of them. For the uninitiated, an e-Passport is a passport with an electronic chip that stores
all relevant biographic and biometric data related to the identification of the passport-holder. Standardised by ICAO, the e-passport brings in the highest possible degree of certainty, security and efficiency.
With the application of state-of-the-art technology in manufacturing the chip,the probability of tampering, duplication,identity fraud and piracy of e-passport is next to impossible. Thus, in the modern era, e-passports are seen as the most reliable solution to tackle the menace of passport frauds.
The e-passport also automates border control, as individuals need to only swipe the passport at the immigration counter and all data embedded in the chip will be instantaneously visible to the immigration officer, thereby cutting down the average border-crossing time from 2-3 minutes to below 30 seconds. Imagine the relief to the passengers at the Wagah border!
India & e-passport
As on March 2016, 93 out of the 193 UN member states have confirmed issuance of e-passports. Most of the leading economies of the world such as the UK, the US, France, Germany, and China have already migrated from regular passports to e-passports. Global data suggests that in countries that have successfully incorporated e-passports, passport fraud have decreased considerably. But sadly, India has been very slow to act on this. It is only in recent weeks that things have turned for the better with the India Security Press (ISP) at Nasik floating a global tender for procurement of electronic contact-less e-passport inlays.
So, we can all be hopeful that India will soon embark on a massive journey of gradual upgradation of regular passports to e-passports. If we can achieve a miracle with Aadhar, I don’t see why we can't do it with e-passport. Once this happens, the issue of fake passports will be largely brought under control and the reliability of our passports will grow manifold.
Apart from weeding out frauds, e-passports will offer other benefits as well. An e-passport can also be proactively used in data mining as the chip stores all relevant information related to the traveller. This can prove to be a major help to law enforcement agencies. It can also provide valuable information in case of emergencies that require quick evacuation of Indian nationals from foreign shores.
Personally,I will want my passport to enable me to travel to all 193 of the UN-affiliated countries without a visa. What’s your wish?
With the application of state-of-the-art technology in manufacturing the chip, the probability of tampering, duplication, identity fraud and piracy of e-passport is next to impossible
With the application of state-of-the-art technology in manufacturing the chip,the probability of tampering, duplication,identity fraud and piracy of e-passport is next to impossible. Thus, in the modern era, e-passports are seen as the most reliable solution to tackle the menace of passport frauds.
The e-passport also automates border control, as individuals need to only swipe the passport at the immigration counter and all data embedded in the chip will be instantaneously visible to the immigration officer, thereby cutting down the average border-crossing time from 2-3 minutes to below 30 seconds. Imagine the relief to the passengers at the Wagah border!
India & e-passport
As on March 2016, 93 out of the 193 UN member states have confirmed issuance of e-passports. Most of the leading economies of the world such as the UK, the US, France, Germany, and China have already migrated from regular passports to e-passports. Global data suggests that in countries that have successfully incorporated e-passports, passport fraud have decreased considerably. But sadly, India has been very slow to act on this. It is only in recent weeks that things have turned for the better with the India Security Press (ISP) at Nasik floating a global tender for procurement of electronic contact-less e-passport inlays.
So, we can all be hopeful that India will soon embark on a massive journey of gradual upgradation of regular passports to e-passports. If we can achieve a miracle with Aadhar, I don’t see why we can't do it with e-passport. Once this happens, the issue of fake passports will be largely brought under control and the reliability of our passports will grow manifold.
Apart from weeding out frauds, e-passports will offer other benefits as well. An e-passport can also be proactively used in data mining as the chip stores all relevant information related to the traveller. This can prove to be a major help to law enforcement agencies. It can also provide valuable information in case of emergencies that require quick evacuation of Indian nationals from foreign shores.
Personally,I will want my passport to enable me to travel to all 193 of the UN-affiliated countries without a visa. What’s your wish?
