US ePassport – 143 million Americans hold a biometric passport in early 2021

The photograph will be accepted if it complies with photo guidelines.
 
Check out, in this video of March 2019, the current U.S. passport picture requirements that need to be met to obtain a passport.

Discover now 10 cool ​facts about the US passport

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What happens at border control with a US passport? ​

The micro-controller included in the U.S. passport represents a highly secure feature in itself. 

In the case that a counterfeiter successfully manages to change the portrait and citizen information on the data page, the data in the chip cannot be accessed and altered.

Why?

Any tampering attempt can be detected since the altered data will not compute correctly, as it has not been signed and authorized by the Issuing Authority.​​ 

The following steps describe the typical semi-automatic verification by a Border Control Officer, to explain the exchange of information and the security mechanisms at work. 

The processes for electronic gates or mobile terminals are similar.

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(Click to enlarge the infographic)

1. The traveler arrives at the control point and presents the passport.
2. ​The officer swipes the data page through a special reader to read the two lines of printed characters (known as Machine Readable Zone or MRZ) on the bottom of the data page.
   This allows the generation of a session key to access the microcontroller and read the data stored in it, using the Basic Access Control (BAC) mechanism defined by the ICAO. This guarantees security as it requires access to the passport to be able to read the chip and thus prevents eavesdropping.
3. The officer holds the passport over another passport reader, that uses a contactless protocol, to read the micro-controller. The information is then displayed on the monitor, along with the picture. The officer can check that the information stored in the micro-controller and printed on the data page is the same. 
4. The chip has been signed by the Issuing Authority's ​certificate. The system can automatically check the validity of the certificate by accessing the Public Key Directory managed by ICAO which handles the certificate exchange between participating countries.
5. Several automated checks can take place:  Search in Interpol's Lost & Stolen Travel document watch list, to check if the document is listed there, as part of an identity theft attempt to illegally enter the country;  Search in the databases of the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs databases according to Customs and Border Protection procedures put in place, to track fugitives or people deported in the past.​​

Where do we fit in?

Thales is the proud partner of the US government for electronic passports, the Department of Defense for military CAC cards, and state DMVs for secure IDs. 

More specifically, Thales is one of only two vendors to be selected after a rigorous selection process for the supply of theUS ePassport program.​​

In August 2012, the GPO, responsible for supplying the US Department of State with ePassports​, has awarded Thales with a second consecutive five-year contract.

Thales first partnered with GPO in 2006 following stringent evaluations to meet agency requirements. Thales is to supply its latest ICAO-compliant electronic covers as well as support for the lifetime of the agreement. 

Where to contact us in the United States

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