COIMBATORE:The Regional Passport Office in Coimbatore has urged those who are holding non-machine readable passports to apply for re-issue of passports and obtain machine-readable passport before November 24.
“The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has set a deadline of November 24, for globally phasing out all non-machine readable passports (non-MRPs). From November 25 onwards, foreign governments may deny visa or entry to any persons travelling with a non-MRP passport,” Coimbatore Regional Passport Officer S Sasikumar said in a release.
“All handwritten passports with pasted photos, earlier issued by the Government of India, are considered non-MRP passports. All 20-year validity passports will also fall in this category. The Government started issuing Machine-readable Passports (MRPs) since 2001. All new Indian passports are ICAO compliant MRP passports,” he added.