Regula Software Now Supports the Latest Standard for Biometric Passport Verification

With its latest update, Regula Document Reader SDK, a comprehensive software solution for identity document verification, ensures 100% support for the new ISO/IEC 39794-5 standard regulating the methods of facial data storage and verification in e-passport chips. According to the ICAO guidelines, all document readers and verification systems must be compatible with the new standard by 2026, with passport issuers required to fully adopt the new format by 2030.

The ISO/IEC 39794-5 standard introduces an enhanced framework for facial image data, significantly improving interoperability, processing speed, and recognition accuracy across different identity verification (IDV) systems worldwide. Unlike the previous ISO/IEC 19794-5:2005 standard, which primarily stored a basic facial image, the new format records additional metadata, including detailed facial landmarks, precise eye and hair color, and other biometric attributes.

The richer set of pre-stored reference points eliminates the need for separate face detection and feature extraction during verification. Instead of calculating key facial points from scratch, IDV systems can use the pre-recorded metadata, accelerating processing times and ensuring consistent, high-quality recognition results—regardless of the local algorithm used for comparison. This standardization guarantees that a person’s face in their passport will be consistently and accurately verified across different countries, improving global interoperability.

Apart from that, the ISO/IEC 39794-5 standard implements a flexible framework for future extensions. This means that as new attributes or enhancements are introduced in the future, all systems supporting this standard will remain fully functional without requiring urgent updates—unlike the current situation, where all IDV systems would need to be updated to accommodate new data formats.

Although the current ISO/IEC 19794-5:2005 will remain valid, the industry has started the transition period, and businesses worldwide should be ready to process the new format data before 2026.