US begins progressing its passport plans
Biometric Technology Today · 2004
The US Department of State has said it will begin a limited roll out of new biometric passports in late 2004 or early 2005. This will quickly ramp up, however, with all newly issued US passports expected to have embedded chips by the end of 2005. This would total approximately eight million passports per year, with each containing a contactless smart card chip and antenna that comply with the specifications laid out in ICAO Document 9303. Vendors were asked to bid on the supply of the chips and antennas by 12 August.