is It the Right Time to Change Mongolian Passports?

Trans. by B.DULGUUN

Reportedly, Mongolia has inserted chips containing data about the passport bearer and the passport itself on the cover of diplomatic (blue) and official (green) Mongolian passports when e-passports were first introduced in Mongolia in 2012. This chip technology is currently used in over 160 countries. Now, the government is attempting to launch a much more advanced and expensive technology used in less than 20 countries. The technology will be used to embed a contactless chip to the first page of a regular passport (red).

Cabinet initiated the changes to Mongolian passports to speed up clearance through immigration and for the prevention of identity fraud under former Prime Minister Su.Batbold's government in 2010. Now, the current government led by Prime Minister Ch.Saikhanbileg is carrying out the task. The National Registration and Statistics Office started preparing for ordinary passport renewal in late February of this year, and at the time, authorities announed that new passports would not be mandatory. In other words, the public can continue using their current passports without having to renew them, meaning that Mongolia will have two types of passports one with a chip and one without. Still, authorities recommended applying for the new passports when current passports expire, as e-passports will not require passport holders to extend their expiration date.

Some people have expressed their disapproval for this project. They say that the changes to passports are an example of extravagant government spending. According to their argument, current passports are functioning perfectly fine and the change to regular passports is uncalled for, especially right now, when the whole population is tightening their belts, even to the extent of pinching money from monthly cash allowances for children, also known as Children's Money.

A couple of experts have backed this argument, stating that the current regular passport of Mongolia is as highly secure and confidential as a smart passport with a chip. They added that Mongolia started using INFACIO security technology for ID documents in 2002, and that the technology hasn't caused any problems or delays so far. INFACIO is widely recognized for meeting all standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Mongolia's supplier of this security feature for passports, Germany's Giesecke and Devrient, is a company internationally recognized for its expertise in...