Passport Design To Be Changed To Combat Forgery ; New Passport Applications Will Be Available Online From March 24

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:00 JST, January 4, 2025

The Foreign Ministry is changing the design of Japanese passports in an effort to prevent counterfeiting. Passports with the new design are set to be issued to those whose applications the ministry receives on or after March 24.

The page on which the passport holder’s name and passport number appear will now be made of plastic instead of paper, while photos of the holder’s face will be printed in three places. A special printing technique will be used to allow one of the face photos to disappear and the date of birth to appear when the passport is viewed at a particular angle.

March 24 will also be the first day on which it will be possible in all prefectures to apply for a new passport online. Passport renewal applications have been available in all prefectures since 2023.

To strengthen the security system, the time taken to issue a new passport will be roughly doubled, to about two weeks. Current passports will remain valid until they expire.