Secretary of State for Justice and Domestic Affairs, Ester Molné, Secretary of State for Public Administration, Antoni Rodriguez, and Eurozone trade director in Oberthur Technologies, Véronique Ménard, presented the new passport to the press. Ménard explained Andorra has incorporated the most secure passport in the world. The new technology applied “does not allow falsifications and guarantees total security.” She also talked about the possibility of providing this highly secure passport to other countries, but although working on it, only Andorra has made it possible so far.
With the implementation of the new security measures on passport chips, for European Union countries, it was necessary to adapt these security measures to surrounding countries. This is why the government decided to impulse the new third-generation biometric passport.
Molné stated the new document incorporates laser and color printing on a polycarbonate surface where personal data appears, allowing to print the picture in colour, thus guaranteeing that the page is better preserved. It also incorporates a chip and the page is divided into two zones, one for visual inspection and the other for automatic reading.
With regards to the passport’s number, Molné explained new documents will have the holder’s passport number, which varies with every new document issued, being the one to be used while traveling. Meanwhile, the passport contains a personal identification number for other procedures, which already figured on previous passports. From now on, all passport renewals will include the new features, although current passports will remain valid until their expiration date.
Antoni Rodriguez ended by announcing a new appointment system for the renewal of both passports and driving licenses. This way, people with previously made appointments, will be able to receive their renewed documents in just 30 minutes.
