Division 5 Issuing technique

To ensure that passport or travel document data are properly secured against attempts at counterfeiting and falsification, biographical data including the holder’s portrait, the holder's signature and main issue data shall be integrated into the basic material of the document. Conventional methods of attaching the photograph shall no longer be used.

The following issuing techniques may be used:

• laser printing,

• thermotransfer,

• ink-jet printing,

• photographic,

• laser-engraving that effectively penetrates into the card layers bearing the security characteristics.

To ensure that biographical and issue data are adequately protected against attempts at tampering, hot-seal or equivalent lamination (as thin as possible) with an anti-copying device is compulsory where laser printing, thermo-transfer or photographic techniques are used.

Travel documents shall be issued in machine-readable form. The layout of the biographical data page shall follow the specifications given in part 1 of ICAO Document 9303, and the issuing procedures shall meet the specifications it sets for machine-readable documents.