Costa Rica will change the design of its passport for 2022, as confirmed to the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners. It is a design that was in charge of the country brand, Esencial Costa Rica and it has not yet been defined if the document will increase in price.
The passport will have a chip that has the biometric data of the person: characteristics of his face, fingerprints, as well as his personal information, said the entity. “This passport puts us up to the latest global mobility trends. It prevents forgery and alteration, which makes it a very secure document as it is high-tech”, explained the Director General of Migration, Raquel Vargas.
The official added that biometric technology “will also be available for the safe conduct and travel documents of refugees and foreigners, exit and entry permits for carriers, as well as neighborhood permits for people living in border areas.”
Esencial Costa Rica
The design of the passport pages was achieved thanks to the support of Esencial Costa Rica, which developed representative visual aspects of Costa Rica which will be located in the document and comply with all the security guidelines and provisions of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
“The essence of Costa Rica is impregnated in each of the pages of the passport. It was a complex and challenging project because its design seeks to promote the country in an integral way and we are very proud of the result since it is a project that will put the essence of Costa Rich in the hand of millions of Costa Ricans”, said during the presentation of the document, the President of the Country Brand Committee, Pedro Beirute Prada.
For its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted the importance of the new passport complying with international standards and greater security measures. “This will open doors for us because we can confirm that our citizens are identified abroad with a secure and reliable document,” said Vice Chancellor Adriana Bolaños.
Current passports will continue to have validity
The project that contemplates the change of passports will be launched during the first quarter of 2022, but it is clarified that a mandatory change will not be required; that is, the delivery of the document with the new design will be given to those who request it for the first time, need to renew or require replacement, but “current passports will continue to be valid until their last day of validity, it is not necessary to seek a renewal before the expiration date”, they explained in Migration.
The authorities reported that “this is the first time that the design of a passport has been carried out by Costa Ricans.” To carry out its graphic design, four representative axes of Costa Rica were taken as a basis, which were reflected in the pages of the new document.
They are:
– Biodiversity: highlighting elements such as islands, hammerhead sharks, waves, turtles, corals, butterflies and sloths.
– Renewable energy: with elements that refer to volcanoes and hydroelectric plants.
– Education and peace: showing the act and the independence torch, books, schools and of course the “Pura Vida”.
– Talent: exemplified by the cart, pre-Columbian spheres, sculptures, Boruca masks, marimba, calypso and even the native Creole swing.
