STA, 26 November - Cetis, a printing group specialising in secure documents, will produce new temporary and permanent residence permit cards and residence registration certificates for foreigners in Slovenia. The agreement, signed on Thursday by Interior Minister Aleš Hojs and Cetis director Roman Žnidarič, is worth almost EUR 16 million.
Cetis has been commissioned for the design, production, storage, personalisation and delivery of the new documents for the next ten years. The contract is worth EUR 15,704,900 (incl. VAT), with one million cards expected to be produced during this period.
The new second-generation residence permit cards and residence registration certificates are expected to start being issued in the beginning of 2022, said the Interior Ministry's press release.
They explained that residence permits for third-country nationals are already being issued as biometric documents in a uniform format in all EU member states, and new documents will be upgraded with additional security features to prevent forgery.
The new uniform format will also be used to issue documents for EU and Swiss citizens and for family members of EU citizens, Slovenians and Swiss citizens residing in Slovenia. However, the EU and Swiss citizens' cards will not include biometric data.
In early November, the Interior Ministry also signed a framework agreement with Cetis for the production of biometric identity cards for Slovenian citizens. The first ones are expected to be issued at the end of March 2022.
