To know if a passport is biometric, the easiest way is to look at the front cover of the passport. A biometric passport typically has a small, gold camera-like symbol or logo at the bottom of the front cover under the country name. This symbol indicates the presence of an embedded electronic microchip that stores biometric data such as the holder's digital photograph, fingerprints, or other identifiers. Additionally, biometric passports have this microchip integrated using RFID technology for secure and contactless reading. Another sign is the issuance date: passports issued after around 2007 (depending on the country, for example, the US started issuing biometric ones in 2007) are usually biometric. Physically, biometric passports do not feel different as the components are very small and embedded inside, so the visual symbol on the cover is the key identifier. Sometimes the chip can also be found in the back cover or on a specific page inside the passport. Thus, checking for the small gold biometric symbol on the front cover is the quickest way to know if the passport is biometric.
