Malta to have biometric passports 'within 18 months'

Maltese passports will become biometric within 18 months according to an EU directive aimed at ensuring greater security, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said yesterday.

He was speaking at the launch of ePassports, an initiative through which one could apply and pay for a new passport or renewal online.

The biometric passports will include a microchip which will feature a digital photo of the owner and his fingerprint. This will increase the department's workload even though there should be fewer applications for a passport as this was no longer necessary for travel within the EU.

Dr Borg said the Passports Office was a government department which barely received any criticism and which was usually praised for its efficiency.

Last year, it issued over 38,000 passports, 5,000 more than in the previous year.

Technology Minister Austin Gatt said that any Maltese resident aged 16 years and over can benefit from the online service. But to apply for a passport online, one had to have an eIdentity. This was because the electronic identity of the applicant would be used.

One can apply for an eIdentity at the local council offices of Cospicua, Ghaxaq, Iklin, Luqa, Mosta, Qormi, Sliema, St Paul's Bay, Valletta, Zejtun, San Lawrenz and Ghasri.

The minister said this identity would become an essential part of the eGovernment system and the photograph would be used for other cards and services. This, at least, was what could be done in theory since bureaucracy sometimes prevented progress.

Giving an example, he said that birth, death or marriage certificates were supposedly available to the whole government through the central database but the Social Services Department, for example, still asked for a physical death certificate when one went to inform them of a death.

He appealed to bureaucrats to implement changes so as not to allow the country to fall behind.

Dr Gatt said the government website received 15 million hits this year - an average of 100,000 a day. Mostly visited were the courts section - 10,000 hits a day followed by the National Statistics Office - 9,000 hits a day - and the Inland Revenue Department - 3,000 hits a day.

www.passaporti.gov.mt