Biometric passports - what is it? Many people have heard about this type of document, but not everyone knows what it is. So, this is a certificate confirming the identity and citizenship of the person to whom it belongs. But if the definition coincides with the characteristic of a common, civil, then what is the essence of a biometric passport?
Key differences
So, before you find out what is necessary in order to obtain biometric passports in Russia, it is worth talking about the key differences of this document from the generally accepted identification card. So, it contains not only the last name, first name, middle name and information about marital status and place of residence. A biometric passport, the price of which is higher than that of an ordinary passport, has a built-in microcircuit. It stores special biometric information. This is often a picture of the iris, fingerprints. This information must contain biometric passports. What is it and what is it for? This is what determines the authenticity of a document. The main difference from an ordinary passport. It contains information that is not accessible to its owner, but it can be remotely read.
How did the idea come about
Biometric passports - what is it and how did they even appear in our lives? In 2001, the United States proposed to start issuing such documents. In 2002, representatives of 188 countries signed the so-called New Orleans Agreement, which stated that henceforth face biometrics would be the main recognition technology for passports and visas. After the agreement was signed, the United States government also stated that other documents should become biometric. However, the idea was not taken equally positively in other countries. Many believe that this is unacceptable and looks like total control.
External differences
We should talk about what external differences this document has from a common civil ordinary passport. Firstly, it stands out with a special microcircuit logo, which is applied to the cover. This is necessary in order to be able to identify the electronic passport. It is also worth noting that the first page of the passport is thicker than usual. It shows the installation data of the citizen and, of course, there is a photo - as in an ordinary passport. Still inside the same page there is an electronic chip containing a digital photograph. It also contains data that is entered directly into the passport.
In Russia, such documents are produced at the "State Sign". Today, he makes two types of passports - foreign and all-Russian.
About the benefits
Many people are concerned about how to get a biometric passport. However, for starters, it's worth talking about the advantages of this document over the usual one. The main plus is that at some border control points there is special equipment designed to read data from a microchip built into the passport. This procedure significantly reduces the time for entering information about the person who must cross the border through the border system. It is worth noting that in many countries where there is electronic passport control, there are separate corridors for people traveling with biometric documents. And in fairness it should be noted that in them the queue moves much faster.
Due to the fact that all biometric data of a person is stored in one document, the comparison of a person with a passport is carried out by automation. This has its advantages. Firstly, the probability of an error being made by the controller is minimized. Secondly, the identification time is reduced. All this greatly speeds up the entire control process.
In the Russian Federation
Since 2009, points for issuing biometric passports began to work in all regions of our country. By law, they are called a new generation of passport and visa documents with an electronic storage medium. From these points, data is sent to the processing and personalization center. If we talk about where to get a biometric passport for traveling abroad, it should be noted that such documents are issued only in those foreign agencies that have special software and hardware that are necessary for this.
Beginning in 2010 (from the first of March), anyone can get biometric passports. They are issued for ten years. Many are interested in what biometric passport can be obtained in Russia. This is a new passport. Among them - civil, service and diplomatic. In addition, it may be a seafarer's certificate and some other documents that are not essentially passports.
About data security
The first thing to note: the reading range of the electronic chip does not exceed ten centimeters. The second - only with the personal consent of a person to provide their own data can this information be considered. Consent is that a citizen voluntarily brings his passport to the reader. Only after the information is recognized by the robot, a special code is generated, which requires a system to restrict access. After that, the equipment installed in the checkpoint will be able to perform a full readout of the data stored in the electronic chip memory.
In general, if a person is very worried about maintaining the security of his data, then a hundred percent guarantee against illegal reading can be obtained by another method. And it's pretty simple. To do this, buy a passport cover with a layer of foil. The principle is simple: a thin metal layer ideally shields the document from electromagnetic waves.
And what about Ukraine?
Three years ago, in 2012, on October 2, Ukraine adopted a law regarding a unified state demographic register. This resolution states that the passport of a citizen of the country and a foreign document can be issued electronically, and then the information about the owner will be placed in the Unified State Register. That's just that none of the citizens of Ukraine was in a hurry to change generally accepted identity cards to new ones. Biometric passports - what is it, why are they needed, how to get them? Ukrainians were puzzled by many questions. Only in 2015, on January 12, the first few biometric documents were received by citizens of Ukraine. And the country's government expects that with these passports soon all residents will cross the borders of the Schengen states. After all, visas will not be needed for this.
Biometric passport (Ukraine) - how to get a treasured document?
In Russia, this process has been established for quite some time. There are no problems in obtaining documents of a new generation. But how to get a biometric passport in any Ukrainian city? It’s not so simple there, because they began to be issued only from this year. First you need to contact the unit of the internal affairs bodies and find out detailed information there. And so, in order to draw up this document, you must have an internal passport, as well as an identification code with a certificate from the military registration and enlistment office (but this is only for men). Now the queues at the OVIRs are very large - many people are puzzled to purchase a biometric passport (Ukraine). How to get this document after all the papers are collected and submitted? There is nothing complicated about it. It will only be necessary to come for your passport when it is ready. You just need to know that a little more time is spent on the preparation of such a document than on the preparation of the usual one.
Document format
A few words I want to say about the photo, which is stored on the chip. Today, a photo image is the main element for identifying the identity of absolutely every citizen who presents his document. Moreover, everyone knows that it is defined by the ICAO standard as mandatory. So in the microchip of an electronic document, it must be indispensable.
So, this is a flat 2D image, always color. It must comply with all shooting conditions pre-regulated. The expression is ordinary, neutral, that is, without facial expressions. The background should be uniform, monophonic, in no case should other objects be present on the photo. If a person wears glasses, they must be removed, otherwise there will be glare on the finished image.
A biometric passport, the price of which is much higher than that of an ordinary one, has recently been popular. To get it, you must first collect all of these documents and pay the state fee. For an adult (after 18 years) a passport will cost 2500 rubles. For a child (up to 14) - 1200. This is 2.5 times more than an old-style document. From the documents you will need a completed application, photograph, birth certificate, old passport of the Russian Federation and foreign. In principle, there is nothing complicated about this. The biggest difficulty is the long lines. But this barrier is not so significant. Queues are everywhere, and we have long been accustomed to this.