The National Press – Casa da Moeda (INCM) has announced the opening of the competition for the creation of the image of the new Portuguese Electronic Passport (PEP).

In a statement, INCM says that citizens will be able to submit ideas inspired by the theme “National Territory” for the design of the next version of the PEP until the end of next month.

“The author of the winning idea/concept will receive a prize worth 5,000 euros and will be invited by INCM to submit a proposal for the provision of services, with a maximum total value of 75,000 euros, for the execution of the passport design project, within the deadline no later than 15 days after the publication of the competition results”, it states.

Proposals must be “original and include a design idea/concept for the booklet as a whole”, for the central visa page and for the PEP biographical page.

The launch of the tender had already been announced by the Government at the beginning of last December.

As announced in the summer, the new passport will be valid for ten years — instead of the current five — and should start being delivered to citizens in the first half of 2026.

“The Government has chosen the visual theme ‘National Territory’ as the motto of the new Portuguese Electronic Passport for the next ten years. The objective is to give greater prominence to the best of the national territory, reminding the Portuguese of the geographical points of reference of our country”, justified the executive.

INCM also points out that “one of the essential factors in security documents, such as passports, is the periodic change of the elements that compose them, including their design, thus making possible attempts at forgery more difficult”.

“In the most recent passports, it has been a widespread practice to design all the inside pages with different images, transforming them into complex ‘designs’, and thus increasing the difficulty of fraudulent reproduction and counterfeiting”.

The Institute of Registries and Notaries is responsible for granting and issuing the PEP, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its consular network, and the Regional Governments.

INCM is responsible for the production and personalization of passports, as well as other identification and travel documents, “ensuring that the highest security standards and compliance with international standards of the European Union and the World Civil Aviation Organization are guaranteed (ICAO)”.