Starting from April this year, a new model of passport will be put into circulation in the Republic of Moldova. A draft decision in this regard was approved today, 15.03.2023, by the Government of the Republic of Moldova.
Putting into circulation of a new model of passport is carried out in the context of alignment to the recommendations of relevant international institutions, which require periodic revision of the form and content of the identity document, optical and electronic reading technologies, to ensure global interoperability.
The new passport contains 34 pages, is distinguished by 45 high-performance security features and comes with a series of novelties related, in this case, to the manufacturing materials, personalization technology and type of security features.
The major changes were made to the most important and fraud-sensitive part of the passport booklet – the page with the holder’s identification data. This page, which was previously made of paper, will be replaced by a polycarbonate one, personalized by laser engraving. This technology enables the use of a wider range of security features at levels that are verified by simply touching, looking at and tilting the document alongside with other hidden security features verified by means of simple and laboratory equipment.
The passport is issued to persons under the age of 7 for a period of 4 years; from the age of 7 to 16 - for a period of 7 years, aged over 16 years - for a period of 10 years.
The passport of a new model (AP series) is to be put into circulation once the stock of blank passport books (AB series) is exhausted, but no later than April 30, 2023.