A biometric passport is a combination of a paper and electronic identity document that used to authenticate the citizenship of travelers. The biometric passport is valid for 5 years for first time applicants, compared to 10 years passports without biometric features. The biometric passport is planned to have digital imaging and fingerprint biometrics placed on the radio frequency identification chip. A biometric passport uses the most advanced technology to verify a person’s identity, looking the same as a regular passport, with the exception of the computer chip on the photo page.

Passports and ID cards are unlikely to actually use most the thirteen biometric indicators the government proposes to collect on all citizens. Passports are to be now based on biometric testing, and the passport's critical information is stored on a tiny RFID computer chip, much like how information is stored on smartcards.

Biometric passports first appeared in Belgium around the in 2004, putting the country