10:13, 05 февраля 2020, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Baktygul OSMONALIEVA
Head of the State Registration Service of Kyrgyzstan Almaz Mambetov and the U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Kyrgyzstan Donald Lu discussed issues related to visa restrictions for citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic.
According to the state agency, Almaz Mambetov informed the American diplomat about the progress in introduction of biometric passports in the Kyrgyz Republic.
According to the official, in recent years a lot of work has been done to eradicate all kinds of conditions and factors that contribute to the illegal issue of passports. He told Donald Lu about functioning of automated information systems (AIS), which exclude the possibility of documenting a citizen without visit to the territorial passportization department. When accepting documents, identification is mandatory on the basis of biometric data of fingerprints and comparison of facial biometrics.
The head of the SRS promises soonest possible resolution of the issue of introduction of biometric passports in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The Ambassador noted that the American side understood the complexity of the situation in the competitive bidding for the purchase of forms of biometric passports.
Donald Lu once again clarified that the U.S. authorities imposed restrictions only on immigration visas and green cards (Diversity Visa), and noted that the restrictions do not apply to issue of non-immigrant visas for other purposes, such as tourism, business, as well as student visas and visas for exchange programs.
The Ambassador assured of his readiness to provide the necessary assistance in resolving issues related to the introduction of biometric passports, and noted that the American side was interested in early resolution of this issue.
Earlier, Almaz Mambetov promised that the Kyrgyzstanis would be issued new biometric passports from January 1, 2021.
In May 2019, the Bishkek Interdistrict Court canceled the victory in the tender for the purchase of forms for biometric passports. By a court ruling, the decision about Garsu Pasaulis’ victory in a tender for the production of new biometric passports for Kyrgyzstan was declared invalid. In connection with the scandal, the Kyrgyzstanis were left without biometric passports.