Police Day celebrations of 25 January were the date chosen for President Hosni Mubarak to give the go-ahead for the gradual replacement of the existing, hand-written Egyptian passport, with an updated, automated version, reports Rehab Sayed Ahmed Mubarak was himself the first recipient of the new passport, while the general public could begin filling out the necessary application forms a day later, on 26 January. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), affiliated to the United Nations, has set April 2010 as the deadline for member countries to issue automated passports. Major General Abdel-Hadi Badr, manager of the Administration of Passports, Immigration and Nationality at the Interior Ministry, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the Egyptian passport will be among the world's most advanced since Egypt has been able to build on the experience of countries that have already converted to an automated system. "This is only the beginning," says Badr. "The new passport has been designed in such a way that it will be easy to upgrade the technology. The computerised passports have a bar code which can be read by computers at airports worldwide". They will also contain a chip to store biometric date, such as the fingerprints and iris scans of its owner, making forgery or the use of a passport by anyone but the person in whose name it was issued almost impossible. Unlike the existing passport, which has been in use since 1952, the new passports can be used by only one person. The ICAO will no longer accept spouses or children being included in the passport of their husband or father. Even newly born babies must be provided with a passport of their own and cannot be annexed onto their mother's. The Administration of Passports says the documents to be provided by applicants for the new passports are almost the same as for the existing one: a national ID card or computerised birth certificate for those under 16 years, military status certificate for males, two 4x6cm photographs of the applicant taken against a white background and a marital status certificate for female applicants. "The computerised passport is valid for seven years," says Badr, "and the fee has been set at LE110. Citizens can receive their passports three days after completing their applications." The new passports, while retaining the dark green cover of its handwritten predecessor, will change size to 12.5x8.8 cm so as to comply with international standards. They will be printed at a capacity of between 2,500 to 3,000 passports a day. The Administration of Passports intends to roll out the new travel document gradually. "At this early stage," says Badr, "we have already authorised 17 police stations in Cairo, Giza and Qalioubiya governorates, along with the administration's headquarters in Tahrir Square, to issue the new computerised passports. The Administration of Passports has not set a date to end the circulation of existing passports. As they expire, however, they will be replaced by the new computerised version. Diplomats and delegates on special missions abroad will continue to travel on separate passports issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
