Published 21 November 2021 at 12.33
Domestic. From 1 January 2022, the Swedish passports and identity cards will have a new look and new functions.
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The new passport and national identity card will be the first in the world with a so-called “floating image”. This security detail has been developed because counterfeiters are becoming increasingly good at imitating the current “wobble image” in the passport. The new security feature helps the image “float” at most angles depending on the viewer's position to the action.
The passports will also contain additional images of the holder that, for example, appear under ultraviolet light. Another detail is that photos of the holder stored on the document's digital storage media are now displayed in color, something that should facilitate border crossing when checking the holder's passport.
To prevent and reduce misuse of genuine documents and identities proven of passports on the internet, the location of the holder's signature has also changed. It has now been moved to the inside of the front cover of the passport. Another safety detail can also be seen here: a photo of the holder covered by a “variable protection mechanism” that protects against tampering.
The passport number and identity card number will instead of today's eight-digit structure consist of an alphanumeric series consisting of nine characters. This is to be able to ensure that old passport numbers are not misused. Thus, the document number will always be unique.
In addition to the visual changes, the digital part has also been updated with a new chip with enhanced cryptographic protection with new key lengths. The new chip gets a new method for opening the contents of the digital storage medium, PACE (Password Authenticated Connection Establishment), also CAN (Card Access Number) can be used. The outdated method, BAC (Basic Access Control), will thus be phased out and will not be supported by the new Swedish travel documents.
The digital changes also affect identity cards, which since August 2021 contain fingerprints. The identity card also gets new security details and design that derives from the passport.
The new documents contain a recurring theme of nature and greenery such as deciduous trees in the south and conifers in the north, something that characterizes Sweden.
To symbolize the human right to free movement, migratory birds have been used as an attribute for human mobility. Not entirely unexpectedly, these also move across the country's borders freely, as humans do, via air, water or on foot.
The new passports and identity cards will take effect from 1 January 2022. The current documents are valid until the validity period expired. If you want the new type of travel document, you must apply at the earliest after the turn of the year.