Machine Readable Travel Documents - ICAO

III-20 Machine Readable Travel Documents
4.3 The MRtd-issuing authority should establish close liaisons with the issuers of “breeder documents”
such as birth and marriage certificates and driving licences. Access to a database of death certificates assists
in the prevention of fraud where an application for an MRtd is made in the name of a deceased person. The
State should ensure that the departments holding records of births, marriages and deaths are reconciled and
the data stored in a database, secure access to which should be available to the MRtd-issuing office. The aim
is to facilitate rapid verification that submitted breeder documents are genuine and that an application is not
being made, for example, in the name of a deceased person.
4.4 An applicant for an MRtd who has not held one previously should be required to present himself 3 at
an MRtd-issuing office with supporting breeder documentation for an interview with an AO and, where
necessary, an AFS.
4.5 The procedure specified in 4.4 may also be used to process applications for an MRtd to replace an
expiring one. Alternatively, provided the MRtd-issuing office has an adequate database of personal information,
including portraits, a replacement application may be processed by submission of the documentation, including
a new portrait, by mail. In such cases it is desirable that the application and new portrait be endorsed by a
responsible person. The return of the expiring MRtd with the new application should be required.
4.6 The MRtd-issuing office should initiate procedures that would prevent the fraudulent issue of more
than one MRtd to an individual who may have attempted to assume more than one identity. Computer
database checks of stored portraits using facial recognition and, where available, fingerprints can assist in this
process.
4.7 Procedures in the MRtd-issuing office should prevent an applicant from selecting the AO who will
serve him. Conversely the work flow should be such as to prevent any employee from selecting which
applications he is to process.
4.8 The issuance of an MRtd to a young child should require the attendance at the issuing office of,
preferably, both parents and of the child. This is to lower the risk of child smuggling or abduction of a child by
one parent.
4.9 The replacement of an MRtd claimed to be lost or stolen should be made only after exhaustive
checks including a personal interview with the applicant.
4.10 It is recommended that details, particularly document numbers, of lost or stolen MRtds be provided
to the database operated by INTERPOL. This database is available to all participating countries and can be
used in the development of watch lists.
5. Control of issuing facilities
5.1 A State should consider issuing all MRtds from one or, at most, two centres. This reduces the
number of places where blank documents and other secure components are stored. The control of such a
central facility can be much tighter than is possible at each of many issuing centres. If central issuance is
adopted, the provision of centres where applicants can attend interviews is required. Furthermore, since
standard MRtds cannot be issued instantly, a system should be established for the issue of emergency MRtds.
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3. Throughout this document, the use of the male gender should be understood to include male and female persons.