Public Register of Travel and Identity Documents Online
The Council of the European Union’s Public Register of Authentic Travel and Identity Documents Online (PRADO) contains technical descriptions, including information on some of the most important security features of identity and travel documents of countries within the European Union, all Schengen Area countries, of other neighbouring countries as well as of many third countries worldwide.
With Council Joint Action 98/700/JHA from 3 Dêcmber, 1998 the European Image Archiving System "FADO" (False and Authentic Documents Online) was set up. The first part of the system, "Expert FADO", went online at the end of 2004 for secure communication among document experts. In 2007, iFADO and PRADO were released. iFADO (intranet FADO), contains the most important information from "Expert FADO" for access restricted, governmental use, while in PRADO a small subset of this information is published for the general public.
PRADO is hosted by the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union (GSC), Directorate General for Justice and Home Affairs (DGD 1A).
Content
PRADO contains basic technical descriptions, including information on security features, of authentic identity and travel documents. The information is selected and provided by document experts in the member states of the European Union (EU), Iceland, Norway and Switzerland; part of the information contained in the classified, restricted "Expert FADO" system is made publicly available via the PRADO pages. The steering committee in the Council of the European Union is currently the Working Party on Frontiers in the formation of False Documents Experts.
The travel and identity documents are categorised as follows:
Document categories:
- A Passport (national passports - all types)
- B Identity card
- C Visa (necessary to enter a country)
- E Entry paper (re-entry for own & other EU nationals)
- F Driving licence
- G Vehicle licence / log book
- H Residence permit
- I Seafarers' identity document
- J Travel Document issued to non-nationals
- K Train driving licence
- L Crew Member Certificate / Pilot's Licence
- M Certificate for operators of pleasure crafts / Captain's licence
- S Special authorization card
- V Authorisation to represent a company
- W Work permit
- X Other (travel and identity related) document
- D Stamp (passport stamps)
- P Civil status document
Document types:
- O Ordinary
- D Diplomatic
- S Service/Official
- F Military
- P Emergency / Provisional
- Y Related / associated document
- E Entry stamp
- X Exit stamp
Document types of civil status documents:
- B Birth
- N Nationality / Citizenship
- I Social security card / Tax card
- A Adoption
- M Marriage
- U Registered partnership
- R Divorce
- T Death certificate
Information on practically all important documents of all EU and Schengen countries is present. The overall number of described documents of third countries however differs widely from country to country (information is added every week).[1]
In PRADO users also find links to websites with lists of travel documents which are officially recognised by EU member states and Schengen states and with information on invalid document numbers provided by some EU Member States as well as by third countries. Other information related to identity checking and document checking and document fraud is also present.
Multi-lingual
PRADO is available in all 24 official languages of the European Union. Documents are introduced by document experts in the currently 31 participating countries in any of the languages and the standardised descriptions are translated automatically; thus, documents are immediately available in all supported languages. Additional free text information contained is translated online by specialised linguists of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.
Target audience
The website is published by the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union not only for transparency reasons, but also to provide an important service to many users in Europe, especially to non-governmental organisations with a need or legal obligation to check identities, for example:
- Banks and credit institutions
- Employers
- Mobile phone providers
- Notaries and lawyers
- Postal services
- Security and guarding companies
- Vehicle rental companies and agencies
References
- "Council of the European Union - PRADO - Search by document country". www.consilium.europa.eu.