Kyrgyzstan to provide its citizens with biometric passports, visa restrictions to be removed soon

Bishkek, Nov. 18, 2020. /Kabar/. In the near future visa restrictions will be removed and citizens of Kyrgyzstan will be provided with biometric passports at affordable prices, the press service of the State Committee for National Security said on Wednesday.

Kyrgyzstan will join the ICAO PCD database soon and begin issuing biometric passports to Kyrgyz citizens to freely cross borders of other countries and stay abroad.

Earlier, due to the absence of biometric passports in Kyrgyzstan, on Jan. 31, 2020 the United States imposed restrictions on immigration visas and green cards towards citizens of Kyrgyzstan.

By the end of 2020, the State Registration Service of Kyrgyzstan will receive the first batch of new generation biometric passport forms under the contract with the Muhlbauer ID Services GmbH (Germany).

One of the reasons for delay in implementation of biometric passports’ introduction in Kyrgyzstan was facts of corruption and personal interest from certain officials of the State Registration Service during the tender in 2019 and attempts to conclude a deliberately unfavorable contact for the supply of blank products at an inflated price.

Thus, the introduction of electronic biometric passports in Kyrgyzstan will be the basis for revision of visa restrictions for Kyrgyzstanis by the U.S., as reported by U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Donald Lu on Nov. 4, 2020.