With the November 24 deadline for phasing out of handwritten passports drawing close, the Reginal Passport Office here has asked holders of such passports to obtain machine readable passports to avoid facing visa problem while travelling abroad.
“Passports issued before 2001 and particularly those issued mid-1990s with validity of 20 years fall under category of non-machine readable passports (handwritten passports.) Applicants holding Non-Machine Readable Passports are advised to get their passports reissued before November 24, 2015”, Regional Passport Officer, K Balamurugan said in a release.
He said the International Civil Aviation Organisation has set November 24 as the deadline for phasing out of all non-machine readable passports.
The applicants may be denied visa or may face problem while travelling abroad he said.