Immigration and Citizenship AgencyFederal Government of Somalia

Country Signing Certificate Authority

Digital Certificates for Biometric Travel Documents

This page publishes the root certificates of the Country Signing Certificate Authority of Somalia (CSCA-SOM). Border authorities and document-verification systems use these certificates to validate the digital signatures on Somali biometric passports, in accordance with ICAO Doc 9303.

Overview

About the CSCA-SOM

The Country Signing Certificate Authority (CSCA) is the national trust anchor for electronic Machine Readable Travel Documents (eMRTDs). The CSCA issues Document Signer Certificates (DSCs), which in turn sign the data stored on the contactless chip of each Somali biometric passport. By verifying a chip's signature against the CSCA-SOM certificate published here, a receiving state can confirm that a document was genuinely issued by Somalia and has not been altered.

These certificates are also distributed through the ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD). Publishing them here provides an additional, directly verifiable source for relying parties.

By verifying a chip's signature against the CSCA-SOM certificate published on this page, a receiving state can confirm that a Somali passport was genuinely issued by Somalia and has not been altered.

Root Certificate

CSCA-SOM Certificate

CSCA-SOM (Certificate 1)

Self-signed root certificate

Current

Distinguished Name (Subject & Issuer)

AttributeMeaningValue
CCountrySO
OOrganisationFederal Government of Somalia
OUOrganisational UnitImmigration and Citizenship Agency
CNCommon NameCSCA-SOM

Because the CSCA is a self-signed root, the Subject and Issuer Distinguished Names are identical.

Serial number
To be published
Valid from
YYYY-MM-DD
Valid until
YYYY-MM-DD
Signature algorithm
To be confirmed from the certificate
Public key
Algorithm & key length — to be confirmed

Fingerprints

Verify the downloaded file against these values before trusting it. The values below are placeholders and must be replaced with the real fingerprints of the published certificate.

SHA-256
AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF:00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77:88:99:AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF:00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77:88:99
SHA-1
AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF:00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77:88:99:AA:BB:CC:DD

Download

Download DERcsca-som-1.derDownload PEMcsca-som-1.pem

The certificate files have not yet been published to these paths. Once the CSCA-SOM certificate is issued, the .der and .pem files will be placed here and these links will resolve.

Revocation

Certificate Revocation List (CRL)

The CSCA publishes a Certificate Revocation List so relying parties can check whether any Document Signer Certificate has been revoked before its natural expiry. Always validate against the most recent CRL.

CRL issued
YYYY-MM-DD
Next update
YYYY-MM-DD
Download CRLcsca-som-latest.crlDownload PEMcsca-som-latest.pem

The CRL has not yet been published to these paths and will be added alongside the certificate.

For relying parties

How to verify

  1. 1Download the CSCA-SOM certificate in DER or PEM format from the section above.
  2. 2Confirm its SHA-256 fingerprint matches the value published on this page before adding it to your trust store.
  3. 3Add the certificate as a trusted root for Somali eMRTD validation.
  4. 4Download the latest CRL and check it during every validation to exclude revoked signers.

Verify the fingerprint (example)

openssl x509 -in csca-som-1.der -inform DER \
  -noout -serial -dates -fingerprint -sha256

Contact

Trust Services contact

For questions about the CSCA-SOM certificates, or to report a suspected compromise, contact the Immigration and Citizenship Agency.

Address
Street address — to be providedMogadishu, Somalia
Email
info@immigration.gov.so
Telephone
+252 · · · — to be provided
Revocation hotline (24/7)
+252 · · · — to be provided

Published by the Immigration and Citizenship Agency of the Federal Government of Somalia in accordance with ICAO Doc 9303. Amber dashed values are placeholders awaiting the issued certificate and official contact details.