The Indian Government issues three types of passports to the applicants. Issuing ordinary, diplomatic and official passports are quite common in the country. In 2008, India has issued an e-Passport to the diplomatic holders. An e-passport is also known as a digital passport. People who want to apply for a fresh e-passport or renew their passport need to understand the procedure. Using an ePassport is smarter and safer in different ways. What is ePassport? Can I replace an old passport with a new one? Is it possible to turn your passport completely digital? All these queries will be answered in this post. We have come up with an in-depth guide about an e-passport, its benefits, application process, and more. Check it out!
What is ePassport?
the e-Passport is also known as a biometric passport. An Indian e-passport is a passport booklet that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip comprising the biometric details of the applicant. The ePassports are embedded with RFID technology. This biometric information will be used to authenticate the identity of the passport holder. The passport booklet comes with decrypted data alongside an integrated electronic microchip. This microchip comprises confidential information such as the biometric data of the passport holder. Without physical touch, the data stored on the microchip cannot be accessed.
People who have an ePassport won’t be checked by the Border Force Officer. An e-passport has been launched by the passport authorities to lessen fraud-related activities and enhances security. The entire information of the passport holder in the microchip will be digitally signed. If any sort of tampering is identified by the system, the authentication will be failed. The National Informatics Centre [NIC] and IIT-Kanpur have collaborated to develop the software of the ePassport. Speaking about eligibility, all the citizens of India are eligible to get an ePassport.
Features of e-Passport
Wondering how will an ePassport help you? The major objective of upgrading your ordinary passport is to prevent identity theft, forgery, and to speed up the immigration process. Here are some of the key features of an e-Passport:
- The microchip embedded in the passport comprises crucial data such as biometric details.
- People who hold an ePassport need not wait for hours at the immigration. Security check and immigration procedures can be done at a rapid speed as it involves only computer authorization.
- With the embedded chip inside the passport, it isn’t possible to counterfeit and create fake copies.
- An ePassport will be extremely thick and heavy. It has been designed securely so that no data in it can be wiped remotely.
- An e-passport can be read in just a few seconds. Whenever the airport is fully crowded, the immigration checks can be done so quickly with an ePassport.
- The memory of the microchip is 64 KB.
- An ePassport can store data for up to 30 visits.
- The international movements of the passport holders will also be stored in the microchip.
- The fingerprints and photographs of the passport holder will also be comprised in the chip.
How to Apply for an e-Passport?
People who are seeking to apply for a fresh e-Passport need to wait for some more days, as India not yet started issuing e-passport for the general public. However, the application procedure might be similar procedures like an ordinary passport. The applicant needs to fill the application form on the official website of Passport Seva Portal. The applicants need to select the location and date of appointment. In India, a total of 36 passport offices will issue e-passports to the applicants. The period for the issuance of an ePassport will also remain the same. Currently, around 20000 Indian diplomats have been using ePassports. For more related articles, stay in touch with our website.