ICAO 9303
Definition
The International Civil Aviation Organization's Machine Readable Travel Documents standard (8th edition, 2021), specifying MRZ field structure, OCR-B font, check-digit algorithm, biometric chip data groups, and security printing minimum specifications for passports and associated travel documents.
- Full name
- ICAO Machine Readable Travel Documents standard
- Current edition
- 8th edition, 2021
- Covers
- MRZ structure, OCR-B font, check digits, biometric chip data
- Applies to
- Passports and related travel documents
Common questions
How is ICAO 9303 used in detecting a fraudulent passport?+
An examiner checks whether the machine readable zone's check digits, font, and encoded chip data conform to the standard's specification; deviations that pass casual visual inspection often fail these algorithmic and structural checks.
Does ICAO 9303 compliance guarantee a passport is genuine?+
No. It defines the format and minimum security specification that issuing states must follow, but a well-made forgery can mimic the visible format while still failing chip authentication or security-printing checks.
Related terms
- BAC (Basic Access Control)
- The ICAO e-Passport access control mechanism that derives a session key from the MRZ data, requiring the passport to be physically opened...
- Check-Digit Algorithm
- A weighted-sum calculation (weights 7, 3, 1 cycling, modulo 10) over the character values of MRZ fields; used to detect data transcription...
- FADO (False and Authentic Documents Online)
- FRONTEX-managed EU database providing border officers with reference images of both genuine and known fraudulent travel documents from EU and associated states.
- KINEGRAM
- A diffractive optically variable image device (DOVID) in holographic foil used on passport biographical pages and visa stickers; produced by OVD Kinegram...
- MRZ (Machine-Readable Zone)
- The lower portion of the passport biographical page printed in OCR-B font, structured according to ICAO 9303 TD3 format (two lines of...
- Passive Authentication (PA)
- The ICAO e-Passport mechanism by which a border reader verifies that chip data groups are signed by the issuing state's Document Signer...
- Photo Substitution
- A fraud type in which the original holder's photograph on a genuine document is replaced with the fraudster's image, typically by lifting...
- Polycarbonate Biographical Page
- A laser-engraved PC data page in which holder data and portrait are embedded within the polycarbonate layers rather than printed on the...
- SLTD Database
- INTERPOL's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database, containing over 100 million records of passports and identity documents reported stolen or lost by...