FAQs
Types of Passports
What is a machine-readable passport? What is an e-Passport (PDF - 574 kB) or biometric passport?
A machine-readable passport has certain biographical data entered on the data page in accordance with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Doc 9303, Part 1 Machine-Readable Passports. These standards address issues like the size of the passport and photograph, arrangement of data fields, and the two lines of printed machine-readable data that appear at the bottom of the page. Machine-readable passports can be read by scanning the two lines of printed data through special readers.
Travelers should contact their country’s passport issuing agency or authority if they have any doubts related to whether their passport is machine-readable.
An e-Passport incorporates data related to an individual’s identity; current ICAO guidelines call for e-Passports to include facial recognition data. The contours of individuals’ faces are digitally mapped and stored on the chip so that a comparison of facial data for the bearer of the passport and the facial data of the person to whom the passport was issued can be made. You can readily identify an e-Passport, because it has a unique international symbol on the cover.
For more information on passports please see Application Requirements.