OSCE concludes training on the Identification of Forged Documents for the Albanian Border Police in Tirana

From 10 to 14 October, the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in close co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania, organized advanced training on the Identification of Forged Documents for 15 border police officers (3 women, 12 men) from Albania.

The training was delivered by experienced trainers from the Ministry of Interior of Austria – a long-standing partner of Travel Document Security training of the OSCE - and has built on the existing skills of law enforcement personnel related to travel document security. In-depth knowledge about the manufacturing process, document security features, as well as the latest trends in counterfeiting methods and means of identifying them, were laid as the centre point of this advanced training.

This one week-training course is a follow-up to the basic training conducted last year and was carefully tailored to enhance the capacities of police officials from the Albanian Border Police to detect forged documents. Training topics included extensive knowledge of security features in documents, security printing inks, introduction to printing techniques, passport production, introduction to devices for document verification machine-readable zone, and Face verification.

The initiative encouraged active discussions and included practical examples and capstone reviews, as well as a strong interactive component, which included memory tests, exercises on facial appearance and comparison, lectures, and practical modules on anatomical features and examination techniques of facial components. In addition, the training course had a specific session on Schengen Visa Security, Schengen Visa features, and related forgery methods.

This training course is a part of a series of activities on the detection of forged travel documents and impostors organized by the Transnational Threat Department in different participating States since 2015, in close co-operation with the respective OSCE field operations.