President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has this evening launched the new biometric passport and immigration auto-gate service in the Maldives. The launching ceremony was held at Hotel Jen.

The Maldives is the first country in the SAARC region to introduce a biometric passport system — with the new passport containing 34 security features.

At the ceremony held this evening, the “Department of Immigration and Emigration” was rebranded “Maldives Immigration”.

President Yameen awarded plaques of appreciation to the individual who designed Maldives’ new passport, and to the German company Dermalog, for implementing the security features incorporated in the new passport.26