New resident identity cards (known as BIRs after the Portuguese abbreviation) will feature a number of updates – including, for the first time, reference to the People’s Republic of China, Ponto Final reports.
The revamped BIRs will start being issued on December 15. The current version was launched in 2013 and this will be the cards’ first revamp in a decade.
According to the Executive Council, which made the announcement, “it is necessary to promptly replace the hardware and software equipment of the [existing] system and update the cryptographic features and anti-forgery characteristics of the BIR.”
[See more: Macao is introducing new 10 and 20 pataca banknotes that will be harder to fake]
Alongside new anti-counterfeiting features, the cards have had an aesthetic makeover. The Executive Council has said they will have “a simpler and clearer appearance” with so-called secondary data (such as date of first issue and place of birth codes) stored on cards’ chips instead written on their surfaces.
Current BIRs have “Special Administrative Region of Macao” written on the back. New ones will instead read: “Special Administrative Region of Macao of the People’s Republic of China.”
In addition, cardholders’ residency status – permanent or non-permanent – will be displayed on the front of their BIRs, not the back.
