The Immigration Department today announced it will start accepting applications for the Next Generation Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Electronic Passport and Electronic Document of Identity for Visa Purposes from May 14.

From the same day, eligible people can submit applications through the ImmD Mobile App, and New Travel Document Submission Kiosks will be put into service at the department's headquarters and branch offices.

The time required for processing such applications will be shortened from 10 to five working days, the department said.

It added the new documents will continue to be produced in compliance with the standard of the International Civil Aviation Organization, with the holder's data and facial image stored in digital form in the contactless chip embedded in the back cover of the documents.

The security features of the new documents will also be enhanced, the department said.

Application fees for both documents remain unchanged.