The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had set a deadline of November 24, 2015 for phasing out all non-machine readable passports across the globe. The ICAO is a United Nations specialized agency, created in 1944 by the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention). ICAO along with the Convention’s 191 Member States and global aviation organizations develop international Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). These standards and recommendations are followed by the Member States to develop legally-enforceable national civil aviation regulations.

Effectively, non-machine readable passports which include both hand-written and 20 year passports will be phased out. Post November 24, 2015 any international traveller using hand-written or 20 year passports may be denied a visa or turned back by the border Immigration. It is important for such travellers to have their passports renewed without further delay. It may be recalled that India started issuing Machine Readable Passports (MRP) from 2001 onwards.

You may find the earlier press release on this subject by visiting here.