Portuguese passport

The quality of the paper, the optically variable elements on the biographical page, the certification, and the chip are elements that increasingly strengthen the Portuguese passport and prevent or hinder its falsification, the deputy director of the Central Directorate for Emigration and Documentation of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) told Renascença.

“It is a passport with many physical and digital security features,” and one of the most secure, Helena Esteves assures us.

"Gone are the days (before 2006) when Portuguese passports were in the top 5 for fraud detection. Today, this is no longer the case and the numbers are very low. It is one of the most secure in the world in terms of security levels, more difficult to counterfeit and easy to identify," she adds.

Helena Esteves explains that “there must be security visible to the naked eye without the intervention of machines and also, for a more accurate analysis, visible on special equipment.”


Portuguese passports make life difficult for counterfeiters

When asked about Portugal's position in the ranking of the most counterfeited passports, she replies that “we are not even in the ranking, we do not appear in the statistics.”

Helena Esteves adds that Portuguese passports make life difficult for counterfeiters. “When it comes to altering [the passport], it's not appealing because they have to change so many things, and even then, they run the risk because counterfeits are easily detectable, even without equipment,” she emphasizes.

Greek, Italian, and French passports are on the list of the easiest to forge and are therefore the ones that most often end up in the hands of the Portuguese authorities. “Some African countries come next, but European passports are desirable because they are visa-free and are the most desirable,” she reveals.


Do we have a different passport from Europe?

There are several factors to consider. Our passport is very different from the rest of Europe. “It is issued centrally, whereas most countries do not have centralized issuance. The Portuguese passport can be requested in various parts of the world, but it is always issued at the mint and then sent,” explains Helena Esteves.

As for security features, Portugal shares standards that are part of international guidelines and regulations. A document must have an optically variable feature on the biographical page, a digital certificate, and a chip, and in this respect, our document is similar to others.







Source: Radio Renascença