Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security began issuing chip-based passports for Vietnamese citizens on March 1, 2023. The electronic chip is an important addition to the document, making it much more secure and convenient to use when entering and exiting countries that apply biometric identification technology to control e-passports at their borders.
The electronic chip stores encoded personal information about the passport holder as well as a digital signature of the passport issuer. The chip safely stores the holder’s full name and date of birth, as well as biometric information such as fingerprint, iris scan, photo of face, blood type and other data.
A key addition to the new passport is the holder’s place of birth, which is noted in a supplement. In fact, the government first introduced a new passport on July 1, 2022. Several government authorities refused to recognize that version of the passport due to missing information related to the place of birth. The passport has since been revised to meet the criteria of foreign nations.
Vietnamese visual aesthetics on passport pages
The inside pages of the new passport depict the beautiful scenery and cultural heritage of Vietnam. See some sample pages here:
Both Vietnamese and English text appear on the passport.
Choice and co-existence of passports with and without the chip
According to the Immigration Department, passports with and without the chip will be in circulation at the same time. All are valid until their expiration date. Vietnamese citizens ages 14 years and older have the right to choose a passport with or without a chip when they apply for the document.
It should be noted that Vietnam has been issuing chip-based national ID cards since 2021.
Sources:
Saigon News
Corporate Immigration Partners
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