Seychelles introduces biometric passports   By Patrick Joubert   |18 November 2022

As of yesterday, the department of Immigration and Civil Status has started issuing electronic biometric passports to Seychellois citizens in urgent need of travelling.

As per protocol procedures, President Wavel Ramkalawan as the head of state was the first person to be presented with his e-passport in a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon at State House.

The delivery of the electronic biometric passport has come as a result of a discussion between the French-based ‘IN Groupe’ and the department of Immigration and Civil Status to expedite its introduction following a breakdown in the department’s passport issuing system as of November 7, 2022.

The breakdown led to a backlog of 454 passport applicants.

‘IN Groupe’, a specialist in identity and secure digital services, was contracted in December2021 to realise the transition to electronic biometric passports project in the country.

The new ordinary and official e-passports have maintained their burgundy and green colours respectively while the diplomatic passport has changed from red to black in colour.

The ordinary passport is for ten years while the two others are for a five-year period. Passports for infants are also for a five-year period.

The fee still remains at R750 per passport.

In a press briefing at the minister’s conference room, Independence House Annex, the principal secretary for Immigration and Civil Status, Alain Volcère, said that the breakdown of the current passport issuing system, which dates back to 2004, came at a time when the project for the e-passport was coming to its end and coincidentally the team on the project was in the country where they took up the challenge to expedite the introduction of the new passports.  

PS Volcère noted that the new e-passports are being issued to persons who urgently need to travel while other citizens in line will be issued with theirs as a new batch gets printed.

Also present at the press briefing was the chief immigration officer, Erica Dufresnne.

PS Volcère explained that the biometric passports are different from ordinary passports in that they feature an electronic chip embedded in one of the pages of the document.

The chip contains biometric information including the bearer’s biological information concerning facial recognition, fingerprint and additional information passport’s data page.

An additional element in the electronic chip is the digital signature, an important feature which provides the link to the issuing authority.

The passport also holds cultural and environmental features of our country.

A person applying for the new passport has only to bring their National Identity Card and birth certificate as proof of identification.

Speaking on the procedures to apply for an e-passport, Mrs Dufresnne said that people on Mahé have to come down to the office to make their application while those on Praslin and La Digue will have to make their electronic enrollment at the department’s outstation office situated at the Pension Fund Complex at Grand Anse Praslin.

She noted that the department is also offering a mobile service on all three islands to people who cannot make it to these stations.

Mrs Dufresnne said that Seychellois living abroad will have to be physically present in the country to apply for the new passport while the Immigration department is working with the department of Information Communications Technology (DICT) to introduce the modes for application online as from early next year for the benefit of both local and overseas applicants.  

She stated that the department has two printing equipment which can print 20 passports each in one go but it will take 72 hours instead of 24 hours for an applicant to get his or her passport.

She explained that the 72-hour waiting for the passport is for the department to get ample time to make proper diligence among other security aspects given the characteristic of the e-passport which has to be in line with security procedures at the different entry points.

Mrs Dufresnne noted that the department will be embarking on an education programme to sensitise the public on the procedures to obtain a passport and on the importance of obtaining their passport as early as possible before they engage in buying plane tickets among others.

She said that the current passport that has been recently issued to clients is still valid and will run in parallel with the e-passport until the end of its expiry date. Most of these passports will expire in 2027.

With regard to the manual extension of the current passport for clients who had wanted to travel during the past few days of which the holders of such passport were not eligible to enter in most countries other than in Mauritius, Mrs Dufresnne explained that they were not eligible to enter as the countries concerned are using equipment that are scanning for the bio page only, a component the current passport do not have.

She noted that the manual extension was only a temporary solution to assist travellers and which had been done in the past and accepted in all countries.

Mrs Dufresnne also noted that none of the travellers did make it to their destinations as their travel agents refrained from providing them with a ticket upon their verification of entering procedures in those countries.  

She stated that with the new printing system, the issue of passport to clients will be back to normal by the end of next week.

Mr Volcère later said that the new passport will permit Seychellois authorities to bring their negotiations forward with other countries such as in North America, Canada and Australia, among others, where Seychelles has not been granted visa waivers.

Photos by Patrick Joubert