Brazil: Government launches new passport model

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian federal government presented on Monday, June 27, the new models of identity cards and passports.

The new travel document will be thematic. According to the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety, the proposal is to become a “visiting card” of the Brazilian citizen to the world.

Elaborated with more anti-fraud technology, the new model wants to “pay tribute to all regions of Brazil through representative icons of the biomes and culture of each place,” explained the government in a statement.

The document’s cover will have a new stylization of the national flag, and the inside pages will have a larger number of watermarks.

“Another new feature of the new model is the invisible fluorescent backgrounds. Before, only the page number changed under UV exposure. The latest version features seven different compositions.

“The ID page has also been updated, featuring a ghost image of the citizen’s photo in black and white, as well as a photo image formed by biometric data of the holder. A security laminate protects this information,” said the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Anderson Torres.

The new passport will begin to be issued by the Mint in September, the date on which the bicentennial of Brazil’s Independence is celebrated.

The government guarantees that there will be no change in the issue price. It will continue to cost R$275.25 (US$53), and the validity period will be ten years.

THE NEW NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD (CIN)

The National Identity Card (CIN), a replacement for the RG (previous identity card), has a QR Code that any citizen can quickly read.

It will be issued nationwide as of August 4, and the replacement of the current document, which is valid until 2032, will be gradual and free of charge.

According to the authorities, the QR Code will allow more precise identification of the document’s authenticity and to know if it has been stolen or lost.

“From these changes, the Identity will be the most secure document in Brazil and one of the most secure in the world,” explained the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety.

President Jair Bolsonaro attended the ceremony at the Planalto Palace and delivered the first CIN units issued by the states participating in the pilot project. Anderson Torres symbolically received his new document.

Besides the physical version, the CIN will also be issued in a digital version, which can be obtained through the Gov.Br application. “I call this de-bureaucratization. You can forget many things at home nowadays, but not your cell phone,” said Bolsonaro.

The CIN will have a unique model regardless of the state in which it is produced. For now, only residents of Acre, Pernambuco, Goiás, Distrito Federal, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul will be able to request the new document.

In the other federation units, the new model will be available until March 2023. “The new identity card and passport show that Brazil is moving toward technological improvement, modernity, and citizenship,” said Torres.

With information from Estadão