All passports require the signature of their bearer for it to be valid travel document. The signature is usually printed onto the passport itself for most countries. However, certain passports require the bearer to manually sign their passport on a separate page (usually the next page).
KYC Process to Follow:
- Not required: Passports that require the bearer to sign the document manually - in this instance, we can accept the document even if it is unsigned.
- Required: Passports that have the bearer's signature electronically imbedded within the document. If the e-signature is missing, it could be indicate of a counterfeit document.
Full Library of ID documents and examples can be found here:
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/prado/en/search-by-document-country.html
Examples
[Signature NOT required] Philippine passport first issued on 01/08/2016. The top page requires the bearer to sign their passport manually. If the signature is missing, we would still accept this ID as per the above process.
[Signature required] Philippine passport first issued on 2/12/2010. The bearer's signature is electronically imbedded onto the passport. If this e-signature was missing, we would review this for potential forgery.
