Lisbon, Jan. 9, 2025 (Lusa) - The Imprensa Nacional - Casa da Moeda (INCM) announced on Thursday that the competition to create the image for the new Portuguese Electronic Passport (PEP) will run until 28 February.
In a statement, the INCM said that citizens will be able to submit ideas inspired by the theme "National Territory" for the design of the next version of the PEP until the end of next month.
"The creator of the winning idea/concept will receive a prize worth €5,000 and will be invited by INCM to submit a proposal for the provision of services, with a maximum total value of €75,000, for the execution of the passport design project, no later than 15 days after the results of the competition are announced," it said.
Proposals must be "unpublished and include a design idea/concept for the booklet as a whole", for the central visa page and for the PEP's biographical page.
The launch of the competition (https://incm.pt/site/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Regulamento-concurso-Design-PEP.pdf) had already been announced by the government at the beginning of December.
As had already been announced in the summer, the new passport will be valid for ten years - instead of the current five - and should start being delivered to citizens in the first half of 2026.
"The government has chosen the visual theme "National Territory" as the motto for the new Portuguese Electronic Passport for the next ten years. The government explained that the aim is to emphasise the best of the national territory, reminding the Portuguese of our country's geographical landmarks.
The PEP is an identification document that ensures it is authentic, protects the identity of its holder, and is internationally recognised, bringing together all the holder's identification data.
The INCM also points out that "one of the essential factors in security documents, such as passports, is the periodic alteration of the elements that make them up, including their design, thus making possible attempts at forgery more difficult".
"In the most recent passports, it has been general practice to design all the interior pages with different images, transforming them into complex designs, increasing the difficulty of fraudulent reproduction and counterfeiting" .
The Institute of Registries and Notaries is responsible for granting and issuing the PEP, along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its consular network and the Regional Governments.
The INCM is responsible for producing and personalising the passport, as well as other identification and travel documents, "guaranteeing the highest security standards and compliance with the international standards of the European Union and the World Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)".
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