The Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) has announced plans to go live with a new high-security electronic or e-passport document to the public.

The agency says this is an attempt to safeguard the identity of Jamaicans and the Jamaican travel document. “A secure and authentic travel document,” is how the Chief Executive Officer of the PICA Andrew Wynter describes the e-passports that will be issued to Jamaicans beginning April 3 of this year. The new machine-readable passports have an embedded microchip that stores a digital version of the holder’s biographical data. With added layers of security, the e-passport is expected to aid in the fight against new and emerging threats to identity theft and national security. Previously issued passports will remain valid until their date of expiration, though Wynter says getting the e-passport is not optional. Watch the report:

Reporter: Nasika Alliman

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