CAIRO: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued 100, 000 machine-readable passports to Egyptians abroad over the past few months, ministry spokesperson Badr Abdel Atty said Thursday.
The United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization has decided to replace paper passports with electronic ones starting November 24, 2015 prompting the foreign ministry to issue new passports.
According to the decision, old passports will no longer be valid for international travel starting from the said deadline.
The ministry has doubled its working hours at the passports department and urged Egyptian expatriates to contact consulates abroad to receive their newly-issued passports.
Additional reporting by Amal Raslan