Latin America’s long-standing ambition to enable cross-border use of national digital identities is entering a more concrete phase.

From 1 February 2026, US domestic air passengers who arrive at airport security without a REAL ID-compliant licence or other accepted identification will be routed into ‘TSA ConfirmID’, an alternative identity-verification process carrying a $45 fee.

Brunei’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) and Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications (MTIC) have introduced Brunei Identity Digital (BruneiID), a national digital identity designed to provide single-login access to selected government digital services.

Belize has received approximately $250,000 in biometric equipment from the US under a new Biometric Data Sharing Partnership (BDSP) with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The package includes fingerprint-based enrolment systems and document readers at Belize’s international airport and major land border crossings, enabling officers to capture biometric identifiers and query DHS identity databases in real time.

The Biometrics Institute has released a new good practice paper, ‘Biometrics and Account Recovery’, focusing on one of the weakest links in digital identity: how users regain access when authentication fails or accounts are compromised.

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), in the US, has launched Virginia Mobile ID, a smartphone-based version of the state driving licence or ID card, now available as a free app on iOS and Android.

Thales has unveiled MultiApp 5.2 Premium PQC, which it claims is the world’s first smartcard certified to resist attacks from quantum computers.

ID.me has raised $340 million in Series E funding to scale its secure, interoperable digital identity platform. With over 152 million users and adoption across 20 US federal and 45 state agencies, the platform supports federated identity at NIST IAL2 assurance levels – essential for high-trust public sector applications.

Mexico has formally enacted legislation making the biometric-based Unique Population Registry Code (Clave Única de Registro de Población – CURP) mandatory for all citizens, transforming what was once an optional identifier into the country’s central digital identity instrument.

At the High Security Printing™ (HSP) Latin America conference (9-11 June 2025), an exclusive physical ‘event passport’ was introduced for participants.