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Yearly Archives: 2019

irish passports

Nearly 1 million Irish passports issued in 2019

Almost 1 million Irish passports were issued in 2019. The Guardian reports that the figure is a new record and represents a 7% increase on...
cfa franc west africa

France to drop CFA franc in West Africa

A new common currency in West Africa – known as the ECO – will be launched in 2020. CNN reports that the ECO will replace...
brexit eu passports

Brexit: record-breaking surge of Brits seeking EU passports

After Boris Johnson’s recent election, the UK is most definitely leaving the EU at the end of January 2020. Quartz reports that the latest data...
greatest passports

Greatest passports of the decade

This past decade, we have witnessed the rise of many new trends and the unfortunate fall of past triumphs. But when it comes to...
turkey visa

Turkey partially lifts visa requirements for Algerians

Turkey issued a presidential decree exempting certain Algerian citizens from having to obtain travel visas when visiting the country. The decision, published in Turkey's Official...

Current and valid passports on eBay

As a historian and collector of old passports, eBay is, of course, one of the sources where I find my collectibles, but also relevant...
hand geometry recognition

Hand geometry recognition: pros and cons

Ravi Das The biometric template creation process of hand geometry recognition To start the enrolment process with a hand geometry recognition system, a combination of both...

India eases regulations for reissue of OCI cards

Last Wednesday the Indian government relaxed certain Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) regulations for the reissue of a passport for those below 20 years...

Myanmar relaxes visa regulations

Tourists from the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Hungary and Austria will be able to receive a visa on arrival upon entering the country...

Vietnam extends visa-free stays

The government of Vietnam decided to extend the visa-free stays for citizens from Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Belarus until...

New Global Trade Body Champions Optical Security Technologies

January 15, 2025: A new international trade body has been launched to represent and promote the wide range of authentication, anti-counterfeiting and automation optical...

Preview: Falkland Islands’ New Family of Banknotes

The Government of the Falkland Islands will release a new family of banknotes on August 14, 2025—Falklands Day. The new family of notes represents...

EES and ETIAS: the EU’s New Border Management Systems [UPDATE]

As we have previously reported, the European Union has long been planning to introduce two separate but integrated border management systems. Together, the systems...

The 25 Top-Ranked Passports as of January 2025

There are several ways to assess the value of a country’s passport. One measure is the number of countries a holder can access with...

LIVE BLOG: Nevada adds “Communication Need” symbol to driver’s license and more news…

To find news about a specific state, click on the state abbreviation here: For news about a specific US Territory, click on the US...