AFTER a three-month delay, Slovak police began accepting applications for new EU format passports on April 4, the SITA news agency wrote.
The new passports will have purple rather than green covers and will carry more security and protection elements.
"The new passport is a secure document that cannot be forged," said Interior Minister Vladimír Palko.
The implementation of biometric data into the passports is planned in one and a half years.
The first biometric data in a new passport will be a plastic image of the face, which should be part of the new passport from September 1, 2006. As of March 1, 2008, chips in the new travel documents will also contain fingerprints in digital form.