DGP opens call to companies to issue biometric passport

Santo Domingo – The General Directorate of Passports (DGP) opened the call for bids to contract services to acquire, install, and maintain the new infrastructure that will allow the issuance of electronically readable passports to Dominican citizens.

The Manifestation of Interest document issued last Wednesday, May 22, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mirex) will allow national or international companies to notify their intention to participate in issuing travel documents with biometric data and higher levels of security.

The same comes some ten months after President Luis Abinader issued Decree 282-23, declaring everything related to contracting services, equipment, and maintenance for issuing these new passports in the Dominican Republic a matter of national security.

This means that the contracting procedure for the issuance of the electronic passport will be carried out under the modality of “exception” for National Security, which applies when “the Executive Branch needs to obtain goods, contract works or receive services to face or prevent threats, infringement of freedom and the general interest,” as established by the law of Purchases and Contracting of Goods, Services, and Works.

Those interested in participating in the process must submit the required documentation (a letter of expression of interest, professional summary, and a copy of the State Supplier Registry) from last Wednesday, May 22, to Monday, May 27, 2024, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The exception procedure will be activated approximately within ten days after the Expression of Interest process closes.

According to Diario Libre, the DGP points out that the services for issuing the electronic passport will be contracted for five years.

The issuance of the Dominican Electronic Passport, considered one of the main goals of the Abinader Administration, will provide Dominicans with a travel notebook with a chip, increasing the document’s security. This will achieve “international recognition” and facilitate the entry of Dominicans to several countries without requiring a “visa,” as DGP explained in the document.