Armenia will start issuing biometric passports in September 2011, head
of the visa and passport department of Armenian police, Norayr
Muradkhanyan, said, News Armenia reports.
The Armenian president signed a decree on March 15, 2008, to implement
the system of identification cards and electronic passports with
biometric data.
The official said that 8 companies from various countries, including
France, Germany, Russia, Poland, Slovenia, filed bids for the passport
contest. The winner will be selected in January 2011.
Muradkhanyan said that both documents will have the same name, birth
dates, birth places and photos but the identification cards will have
an electronic signature and the biometric passports will have
fingerprints.
In the future the ID cards will have information about the heath
condition, driver's licence, he said, adding that there will be
special field for the number of the social card.
The head of the department of passports and visas said that there is
no obligatory date for issuing new passports. But citizens will need
to get an ID card when their old passports expire. The passports are
voluntary. There will also be a period for issuing passports of old
format.
He said that people aged 16 will be receiving ID cards.
Muradkhanyan said that the new system will improve security, process
of border crossing, reduce the risk of false documents.
He added that there is a hotline on three languages (Armenian,
Russian, English) to receive comments and complaints about the new
passports.
