Vietnam’s first electronic passports are expected to be put in use no sooner than 2013 instead of in 2011 as rumored, the Ministry of Public Security has said in an official note.

The Wednesday announcement by the Immigration Management Department at the ministry also said the new e-passport is going to cost the same amount of VND200,000 (US$10) as the paper one, rejecting rumors that owners of e-passports will be charged $100 each.

According to the plan approved by the government, the ministry might be issuing the first electronic passport in late 2012 and grant more of them to the public in 2013.

The e-passports will be installed with chips carrying personal information of the holders.

The project, estimated to cost a total of $52.55 million, will apply fingerprint identification technologies that are compatible with those used in e-ID cards as well as criminal archive systems currently being built by the ministry.

Passengers at airports will thus have their passports scanned by an automatic checking system, instead of showing their passports to some officials the traditional way.

Source: Tuoi Tre