Bhutan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade has launched an electronic Know Your Customer service that connects the country’s National Digital Identity wallet directly to the national passport application system, eliminating paper-based form filling for citizens seeking a new passport.
Under the new arrangement, applicants visiting the government’s citizen services portal can log in using their NDI wallet, scan a QR code, and have their core details auto-populated within seconds. The pre-verified data pulled from the wallet includes a photograph and an e-signature that meet passport specification standards, along with a security clearance check that is now linked to the same system.
GovTech Agency chief ICT officer Tshewang Chojay said the integration removes the need for downstream verification by the service delivery agent because the credentials presented by the wallet are already issued by trusted government authorities. The passport office processes more than 250 applications daily, and officials expect the eKYC link to sharply reduce the rejection rate caused by photographs and signatures that previously did not meet specifications.
“In the present system, the number of passport rejections is very high because the photographs and signatures are not as per the specifications,” said Sonam Pelzom, deputy chief of Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade. “Now with this eKYC system, as it is a passport through NDI wallet, people can upload their authorised photographs and signatures as per the standard.”
Citizens who do not yet have an NDI wallet can still apply through the conventional route. The launch marks the first integration of the NDI platform with a core government transactional service, moving the wallet beyond credential storage toward active use in public administration workflows.
Bhutan’s NDI platform is built on self-sovereign identity principles, giving citizens control over what personal data they share and with whom. The system has been migrating its blockchain infrastructure toward Ethereum-compatible rails, a shift intended to expand interoperability with other decentralized identity ecosystems. A hackathon held in mid-2025 produced 13 third-party solutions built on the NDI stack, signaling growing developer interest in the platform.
The passport eKYC rollout extends that momentum into day-to-day government services, offering a working demonstration of how a self-sovereign identity wallet can reduce administrative friction at scale.
Sources: Bhutan Broadcasting Service, Bhutan Citizen Services Portal
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
