What is an Electronic Passport?

An Electronic Passport is the same as a traditional passport with the addition of a small integrated circuit (or "chip") embedded in the back cover.

The chip stores:

• The same data visually displayed on the data page of the passport;
• A biometric identifier in the form of a digital image of the passport photograph, which will facilitate the use of face recognition technology at ports-of-entry;
• The unique chip identification number; and
• A digital signature to protect the stored data from alteration.