Kathmandu: Nepal launched e-passport services on Wednesday with an academic and 102-year-old cultural expert to the first person to get a chip-based identification document.
Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka inaugurated the first E-Passport Personalization Center at Tripureshwor in Kathmandu.
In his functions, the minister handed over the first Nepal E-Passport to Litterateur Satya Mohan Joshi.
Nepal launched a passport that could be read machine in 2010, replacing handwriting travel documents.
Handwriting passports are fully gradual in 2015.
Applicants for fresh passports can apply for e-passports from November 18 and so on.
However, a readable passport machine will remain valid until 2031.
The e-passport will ensure the security enhanced by the chip installed consisting of biometric data, the foreign ministry said in a statement.