Mongolia hopes to introduce biometric passports by 2018

The Government of Mongolia says it will be rolling out new passports with embedded chips to strengthen security measures and ease of passage by 2018. The passports will be developed with Hungarian State Printing Company.

The previous government began the procurement process for a new generation of passports with smart chips, and Hungarian State Printing Company won the bid and signed a contract to produce the new e-passports. On January 19, Head of the State Registration and Intellectual Property Office of Mongolia R.Sodkhuu and other state authorities hosted the General Director and Trade Director of Hungarian State Printing Company at the State Palace to discuss possible changes to the agreement. The two sides discussed a potential reduction of costs. The current agreement states that one million new passports will be produced for 9.5 EUR per passport.

According to News.mn, Hungarian State Printing Company (established in 1952) produces passports with and without chips, documents for crossing borders, travel documents, EU settlement passes, official documents for proposed asylum seekers, refugee and immigration documents, and other documents concerning sensitive information.

R.Sodkhuu told the media that his office expects to begin introducing the new passports in the first quarter of 2018. When asked if the cost to receive a new passport would increase, R.Sodkhuu did not rule out the possibility of a price increase, noting that the new passports will be up to international standards.