17 Oct 24/7 Biometrically enabled passport kiosks
The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) is working on a model project whereby kiosks will allow UAE nationals and expatriates to renew their passports and Emirates’ IDs instantly.
The state-of-the-art kiosks have up till now been positioned in popular malls. However, the ICP now intends to have the solutions available in a much larger number of popular areas, including a wide variety of malls and airports.
These kiosks will do away with the appointment-based biometric data gathering that is currently the method of getting a passport in the region.
A printer will be connected to the kiosk, allowing for fully automated scanning and passport retrieval.
Foreign visitors are also able to use the kiosks to get access to SIM cards.
The widespread accessibility to passport renewal will enable greater freedom-of-movement for UAE citizens. The programme has the secondary benefit of increasing transport security, by encouraging more citizens to get an authentic passport.
The biometric kiosks are currently on display at GITEX Global at the Dubai World Trade Centre. GITEX is the world’s largest gathering of technology companies and sees competition between innovative products taking centre stage at the event.
Find out more about the ICP and its biometric kiosks.