ICAO Deadline Takes Non-Machine-Readable Passports Out of Circulation

The ICAO deadline for phasing out non-machine-readable passports fell on 24 November 2015. The standard required non-machine-readable passports issued after 24 November 2005 to expire before that date. ICAO said this would remove handwritten and other non-compliant passports from circulation. The requirement concerned international travel documents; it did not require countries to introduce national identity cards. The photograph shows an Indian passport cover. Image: Jovianeye, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.