Iraqi e-passports to be finalized within 'months': Interior Ministry 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An official from the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday that electronic passports are only months away from being issued.

Electronic passports contain a chip with the holder's information. Unlike ordinary paper passports, e-passports are more secure and reduce the risk of identity fraud. 

Iraq previously announced that it was developing such electronic identification documents for its citizens. 

The ministry is now putting the final touches on the project. The new passports will be issued "within months", Riyadh Jundi Al-Kaabi, the director of passports, residency, and nationality affairs, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency. 

Through electronic gates installed at the airports, an e-passport holder's biographic information will be easily accessible, according to the Al-Kaabi. Once the database is finalized, issuing national identification cards and electronic passports will become faster and easier. 

Ranked 110 on its global standing, Iraqi passport holders can only travel to 28 countries without a visa, according to the latest figures from Henley & Partners firm index. 

Iraqis regularly complain about the slow and cumbersome paper-based bureaucratic procedures. Businesspeople and government officials have similarly criticized the country's heavy reliance on paperwork as an obstacle in the way of foreign investment. 

The ministry official said that Iraq has the necessary equipment at its embassies and consulates to issue the e-passports.