Machine readable passport helps eliminate fraud: Nadra

The introduction of machine readable passports (MRP) has helped eliminate fraudulent practices, an official of National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) said on Thursday.
The Electronic-Passport meets is fully in conformity with international standards and has been widely appreciated, the official said. Over the last seven months more than 3,75,000 new passports have been issued. Regional passport offices have the capacity to issue 8,000 to 9,000 passports each daily.
"Pakistan is the first country in the world using both fingerprints and facial recognition in E-Passports," the official said. He said up to June 2006 there is a target of issuing 1.6 million machine readable passports.
The passport has a compatible cover material capable of withstanding high lamination temperature up to 180 C and cover material with gold foil with an emblem. The passport is issued in the languages as desired.
Apart from all the other security aspects, the passport has embedded contact lens chip that has 88 characters of the machine readable data and a photograph of the passport holders in it, the official said.
The passport project was developed by Nadra at a cost of US $8-9 million, which includes setting up 25 locations nation-wide as well as in 10 foreign missions, said the official.
The MRP consists of the data of the applicant which can be retrieved online from Nadra national data warehouse, he said, adding that this has eliminated the use of fraudulent names, address and date of birth by any applicant.
Automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) eliminates the duplicate issue of the passport and ensures that the name, father's name, date of birth etc are correct.
Facial recognition system in MRP verifies the photograph of the applicant from the national data warehouse set up in Nadra head office, in order to eliminate fraudulent photographs.
It also helps cross-check with the police, Interpol and other agencies whether an applicant is on any wanted list. The E-passport has a 2-D bar code on the data page, which is used to match finger images at the automated border control counter for verification of the passport holders.
Radio Frequency Identification Device chip can not be tampered with. The passport infrastructure needed at each embassy has been reduced significantly as only one server or two data entry counters will be needed to process applications, the official said.