Life is being made easier for the computer literate. Following the launch of the on-line tax return facility a few weeks ago, the passports office has also launched an on-line passport application service.

The service is available on www.passaporti.gov.mt. Besides avoiding the potential queues, it bypasses the regular procedures involved in acquiring a passport – such as having to validate your own photograph by a recognised professional such as a priest or a doctor.

All that is needed now is an e-Identity, which can be applied for at the Cospicua, Ghaxaq, Iklin, Luqa, Mosta, Qormi, Sliema, St Paul’s Bay, Valletta, Zejtun, San Lawrenz and Ghasri local councils.

The e-Identity is linked to a database which contains all the information related to the person holding that identification number and password; including a validated photograph.

Speaking during the launch of the e-passport facility, Industry, Investments and IT Minister Austin Gatt said that the e-Identity will become increasingly useful as more and more on-line services are introduced. Future services may include applications for or renewal of a driving licence, an identity card and even, when introduced, a health card.

At this point, however, he made an appeal to the government’s bureaucrats not to resist these changes. He recounted a personal anecdote, which involved him recently. He said that with the introduction of the national database, a person was no longer required to physically present documents such as death certificates when, for example, closing a social security account after a relative had passed away because such a certificate would have been lodged in the database. Nonetheless, when he recently had to go through such a procedure, the department he was dealing with insisted that he produce a physical copy of a death certificate.

Interior Minister Tonio Borg, who was also present at the press conference, announced that, in the coming year, the government will be introducing biometric passports which, besides the regular information contained in the passport, will include information such as finger prints and a digital photo of the passport holder. Such data will be stored on a microchip which is inserted in the passport. The introduction of such passports is required by the EU and will become increasingly indispensable to travel to countries such as the US.

Dr Borg praised the Passports Office, saying that it was one of the most efficient government departments. In fact, last year, it issued over 38,000 passports, 5,000 more than in the previous year, he added.

Dr Gatt, concluding, encouraged more people to avail themselves of the facilities provided on the government’s portal, adding that e-government facilities were already being very successful.

The government’s portal received 15 million hits this year. The pages most visited were those connected to the courts (10,000 hits a day), the National Statistics Office (9,000 hits a day) and the Inland Revenue Department (3,000 hits a day).