Machine Readable Travel Documents - ICAO

III-18 Machine Readable Travel Documents
INFORMATIVE APPENDIX 3 TO SECTION III
THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD ASSOCIATED WITH THE ISSUANCE PROCESS
Note.— This Appendix is a summary of two papers prepared by a multinational group of experts. A
detailed discussion of the recommendations enumerated below may be found in the full papers, published
separately by ICAO.
1. Scope
1.1 This Appendix describes the fraud risks associated with the process of MRtd application and
issuance. These risks are a consequence of the benefits that can accrue from the possession of an MRtd that
can be used to confirm the identity and citizenship of the holder. The Appendix recommends precautions that
an issuing State can take to prevent such fraud.
2. Fraud and its prevention
2.1 Fraud perpetrated as part of the issuance process can be of several major types:
— theft of genuine blank MRtds and completion to make them look valid;
— applying for the MRtd under a false identity using genuine evidence of nationality and/or identity
stolen from another individual, or otherwise obtained improperly;
— applying for the MRtd under a false identity using manufactured false evidence of nationality
and/or identity;
— using falsely declared or undeclared lost and/or stolen MRtds that can be provided to people
who might use them in look-alike fraud or with repetitive photo substitutions;
— reliance on MRtd employees to manipulate the MRtd system to issue an MRtd outside the rules.
2.2 There are two additional categories in which the applicant applies under his own identity but with the
intention to be complicit in the later fraudulent use of the MRtd by:
— altering a genuinely issued document to make it fit a bearer who is not the person to whom the
MRtd was issued;
— applying for an MRtd with the intention of giving or selling it to someone who resembles the true
bearer.