The country bet on a project of biometrics and facial recognition as the solution to strengthen immigration controls. The idea is to identify the entry of dangerous foreigners and put an end to identity theft and the use of fake documents.
The initiative called Intelligent System of International Migratory Control (Sicomi) should be awarded before the end of August. The amount invested is $33 million dollars and for the current authorities it is a star project.
Raquel Vargas, Director of Migration and Immigration, explained that after Sicomi is awarded there will be a period of 18 months before it is implemented.
We would expect that by the end of 2019 there will already be talk about electronic passports and the biometrics part will be in process. This project will strengthen security both in land borders and airport revenues,”
said the official. The system includes three stages of biometrics, reliable passenger, and electronic passport.
The Government is seeking to acquire a facial identification and fingerprinting system called AFIS. The system allows you to compare the physical features and indicates if the person is the same as that shown in the passport.
It also gives access to the database of the police of the world and shows the background of the person or arrest warrants. Director Vargas explained that this will be key to make arrests. He also said that one of the virtues of the software is that it will be installed in all Costa Rican consulates, so new measures will be implemented for some nationalities.
The other stages consist of placing a system of intelligent doors for the recognition of reliable passengers, which went through a previous registration process.
This stage will allow access to airports to be quick for reliable passengers. In addition, passports will be issued with a chip that will encrypt all the information for electronic reading according to international standards.