State-of-the-art security for identity documents needs to observe international standards, regional regulations, and technical recommendations. The following overview of references can help governments, issuing authorities, document experts and designers to understand the intricacies of physical formats, machine-readability, biometric elements, and minimum security requirements.
This section provides a starting point for further reading. The following resources are maintained by supranational, national, and other third-party institutions and should be consulted directly for the latest legal and technical requirements.
ICAO Doc 9303 – Machine-Readable Travel Documents
ICAO Doc 9303 is the central global reference for electronic and non-electronic machine-readable travel documents. It covers passports, identity cards, visas, and emergency travel documents. It addresses machine-readability issues as well as the security of design, manufacture, and issuance. ICAO provides Doc 9303 as a multi-part publication.
Read the document here: Doc 9303
ICAO TD1 Layout Specifications – Large Portraits on ID Documents
ICAO has published additional TD1 layout specifications for machine-readable travel documents (MRTDs). They are particularly relevant for modern ID card designs that use a portrait-format layout and a significantly larger portrait of the document holder. The specifications explain how the portrait size affects the document layout on both front and reverse.
Read the document here: ICAO-TR-Additional-TD1-format.pdf
Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1208 – EU ID Cards and Residence Documents
Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1208 strengthens the security of identity cards of EU citizens and residence documents issued to EU citizens and their family members exercising free movement rights. It links card format, security requirements, biometric data and interoperability requirements
Read the full document here: Regulation - EU - 2025/1208 - EN - EUR-Lex
ISO/IEC 7810 – Physical Characteristics of ID Cards
ISO/IEC 7810 defines physical characteristics for ID cards used in international interchange scenarios. This includes raw materials, layout and card construction, dimensions and characteristics for different types of cards, such as national ID cards, residence permits, or driver’s licenses.
Read the document here: ISO/IEC 7810:2019 - Identification cards — Physical characteristics
ISO/IEC 18013 – Compliant Driver’s Licenses
The ISO/IEC 18013 series specifies ISO-compliant driver’s licenses. This includes the physical card, its visual layout, the basic data set and the minimum security requirements. Additional parts of the series address machine-readability, data structures, and authentication.
Read the document here: ISO/IEC 18013-1:2018 - Information technology — Personal identification — ISO-compliant driving licence — Part 1: Physical characteristics and basic data set
Document Security Alliance – Best Practice Guidelines
The Document Security Alliance, uniting more than 120 government, industry and academic organizations dedicated to securing the production, issuance, and verification of physical and digital identity credentials, has issued a “Best Practice Guidelines and Minimum Security Standards for Identity Documents” framework. It aims at strengthening the security and quality of identity documents across the globe.
Read the document here: https://documentsecurityalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Best-Practice-Guidelines-and-Minimum-Security-Standards-for-IDs-FINAL.pdf
