At the age of technology, Haiti is making some progress. A plan for a new biometric e-passport was unveiled this week. According to the Minister of the Interior and Territorial Collectivity, Mr. Paul Antoine Bien-Aimé, With the new e-passport system, Passport application will be able to be made in most of the major cities in Haiti. Minister of the Interior and Territorial Collectivity, Mr. Paul Antoine Bien-Aimé, guarantied the new e-passport will be secure, faster and more accessible to the public.

A biometric e-passport works?
A biometric e-passport is a combined paper and electronic passport to authenticate the identity of travelers. A computer chip with critical information about the traveler and antenna are embedded in the front or back cover, or center page, of the passport. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is used to authenticate the data stored electronically in the passport chip.

The biometric e-passport in Haiti will help in the decentralization process in Haiti. It is unthinkable in this day and age that the issuance of a passport can only be done in the Haitian capital, Port-au-prince. Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aimé, remarked that is a great step forward for Haiti as the country is making efforts to decentralize services and enhance the capacity of other major cities in Haiti to provide services.

This networked system will be connected to a central processing system that will analyze the information to respond to requests. In addition, the system will be connected with the FBI and Interpol in real time.

According to the Minister of the Interior and Territorial Collectivity, the new biometric e-passport project is expected to enter in operation in the next few Months. The new biometric e-passport is expected to gradually replace the old Haitian Passport.