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Unique ID > Machine Readable Passport Zone
Machine Readable Passport Zone
The
International Civil Aviation Organization, a Quebec based group, developed standards for Machine Readable Travel Documents (MRTDs), including passports and visas. These MRTD make it easy for automated systems to scan a travel document. If a country decides to check all visitors against a known criminals data reading the information automatically with a computer will be much faster and less prone to error than if the immagration agent needs to type the information in by hand.
If you're interested in original materials, do
not bother with the ISO versions. These $27 documents (well, 34,00 CHF) are are essentially a single page saying, "See ICAO Document 9303". ICAO 9303 is much better and includes several pages documenting the history of the document. It's a bit expensive at
$62. You might be able to get it through inter-library loan. I borrowed a copy of the much briefer 3rd edition this way. The 5th edition is much larger (126 pages versus the 30 or so), but I don't access to the 5th edition and am unable to comment on what has been added in the remaining 100 pages.
MRTD's have a Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) at the bottom of them. These MRZes are printed in the monospace font OCR-B. It is printed as "Size 1", which works out to be about 14 point. Further details on the font can be found in
ISO Standard 1073-2:1976. The exact location of the MRZ, the type of paper, reflectivity and the like are futher documented in ICAO 9303 and
ISO 1831:1980.
On a MR Passport there are two lines. Each line is 44 characters long. There are no blank spaces; where one is necessary is it filled with the filler character, a less than sign (<). Here is an example from ICAO 9303. This person is from the fictional country of Utopia, the country code (UTO) is invalid. I've reformatted it to be similar to a United States passport.
PASSPORT
PASSEPORT
PASAPORTE
UTOPIA
- Type / Type / Tipo
- P
- Code / Code / Cédigo
- UTO
- Passport No. / No. du Passeport / No. de Pasaporte
- L898902C
- Surname / Nom / Apellidos
- ERIKSSON
- Given names / Prénoms / Nombres
- ANNA MARIA
- Nationality / Nationalité / Nacionalidad
- UTOPIAN
- Date of birth / Date de naissance / Fecha de nacimiento
- 06 Aug 1969
- Personal no / no personnel
- ZE184226B
- Sex / Dexe / Sexo
- F
- Place of birth / Lieu de naissance / Lugar de nacimiento
- ZENITH, UTOPIA
- Date of Issue / Date de délivrance / Fecha de expedición
- 24 Jun 1989
- Authority / Autorité / Autoridad
- Passport Office
- Date of expiration / Date d' expiration / Fecha de caducidad
- 23 Jun 1994
- Ammendments / Modifications / Enmiendas
- See Page 24
P
Notable differences between the example data and an actual US passport:
- The Place of Birth (if in the United States) will be in the form "State, U.S.A."
- The Authority will specify the city of the passport office (New Orleans is one possibility
- Passport numbers are 9 digits with no letters.
- There is no personal number.
- Type, Code, and Passport No. are on the same line. Sex and Place of birth are on the same line. Date of issue and Authority are on the same line. (I haven't figured out how to format it correctly without some tortorous HTML.)
So here is the example MRZ.
P
Here are the fields:
Ptiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
#########CbbbYYMMDDCsyymmddCppppppppppppppCX
General Notes
All fields are padded with less than signs (<) to fill the required width. There should be no whitespace in the MRZ. Only letters A through Z, digits 0 through 9, and the filler character < are allowed. Some extended letters are mapped to other sets of characters per the following table. The alternate encoding is used when the normal encoding might caused confusion between different names.
| Character | Encoding | Alternate
Encoding |
|---|
| Ä | AE |
| Å | AA |
| Æ | AE |
| IJ | IJ |
| IJ | IJ |
| Ñ | N | NXX |
| Ö | OE |
| Ø | OE |
| Ü | UE | UXX |
| ß | SS |
P - Passport
The first letter is "P", designating a passport.
The second character can be assigned by the issuing country to distinguish different types of passports. If unused a < is assigned.
The United States, at least in the cases I've seen, doesn't use this field.
In the example above there is a <, apparently the fictional country of Utopia doesn't specify specific types, or Anna doesn't need one.
The issuing country or organization, encoded in three characters. The code is pulled from
this table.
In the example above the code is UTO. This code doesn't exist; it's the fictional country of Utopia for the example.
This field is the passport holder's name. The general format is "LAST". The name is entirely upper case. Puncuation (like hyphens) are replaced with the filler character < The surname is given first, then the filler character twice (<<), then the remainder of given names. Separate names in the surname or given name are separated with the filler character < The filler character < pads out the field to fill 39 characters.
Suffixes (Jr, Sr, II, III, etc) are encoded as part of the last name, without punctuation.
If the name is too long to fit the most significant parts of the name are used. Names may abbreviated if necessary to make them fit.
In the above example Anna's surname is Eriksson, her first and middle names are Anna and Maria. Her name is encoded as
ERIKSSON<
George Michael Richards-Stevens Jr. would be encoded as
RICHARDS
######### - Passport Number
This is the passport number, as assigned by the issuing country. Each country is free to assign numbers using any system it likes. If the number has non-letter or number characters they are replaced with the filler character <.
C - Check digit
Check digits are calculated based on the previous field. Thus, the first check digit is based on the passport number, the next is based on the date of birth, the next on the expiration date, and the next on the personal number. The check digit is calculated using
this algorithm.
bbb - Nationality
The issuing country or organization, encoded in three characters. The code is pulled from
this table.
In the example above the code is UTO. This code doesn't exist; it's the fictional country of Utopia for the example.
YYMMDD - Date of Birth
The date of the passport holder's birth in YYMMDD form. Year is truncated to the least significant two digits. Single digit months or days are prepended with 0.
In the example Anna was born in August 6th, 1969. That encodes as "690806".
s - Sex
Sex of the passport holder, M for males, F for females, and < for non-specified.
The date the passport expires in YYMMDD form. Year is truncated to the least significant two digits. Single digit months or days are prepended with 0.
Anna's passport expired on June 23rd, 1994 and is encoded "940623".
This field can be used for any purpose that the issuing country desires.
The United States uses this field in some unknown way. My personal passport has a single digit number in the field.
Anna's personal number is ZE184226B, this field is encoded "
ZE184226B<<<<<".
This is a check digit for positions 1 to 10, 14 to 20, and 22 to 43 on the second line. Thus, the nationality and sex are not included in the check. The check digit is calculated using
this algorithm.
Check Digit Calculations
First, break the input into individual characteres and numbers.
Next, convert non-digits into numbers. A through Z are encoded to 10 through 25. The filler character < is encoded as 0.
| < | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| 0 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 |
Now, multiply each number by the corresponding weighting. The first digit is multipled by 7, the next by 3, and the next by 1. The pattern then repeats (7, 3, 1, 7, 3, 1, 7, 3, 1, etc).
Add up the results, then divide by 10. The remainder is the check digit.
As a special case, if the personal number on the second line is not used (and thus entirely filled with the filler character <), the check digit for that section can be replaced with the filler character <.
An example for the input AB2134:
| Input: | A | | B | | 2 | | 1 | | 3 | | 4 | | < | | < | | < | | |
|---|
| Value: | 10 | | 11 | | 2 | | 1 | | 3 | | 4 | | 0 | | 0 | | 0 | | |
|---|
| Weight: | 7 | | 3 | | 1 | | 7 | | 3 | | 1 | | 7 | | 3 | | 1 | | |
|---|
| Products: | 70 | | 33 | | 2 | | 7 | | 9 | | 4 | | 0 | | 0 | | 0 | | |
|---|
| Sum: | 70 | + | 33 | + | 2 | + | 7 | + | 9 | + | 4 | + | 0 | + | 0 | + | 0 | = | 125 |
|---|
Division: 125 ÷ 10 = 12, remainder 5
This table is used for both issuing country and nationality. If the code is shorter than 3 characters it is padded to three characters with the filler character <.
| Country | Code |
|---|
| Afghanistan | AFG |
| Albania | ALB |
| Algeria | DZA |
| American Samoa | ASM |
| Andorra | AND |
| Angola | AGO |
| Anguilla | AIA |
| Antarctica | ATA |
| Antigua and Barbuda | ATG |
| Argentina | ARG |
| Armenia | ARM |
| Aruba | ABW |
| Australia | AUS |
| Austria | AUT |
| Azerbaijan | AZE |
| Bahamas | BHS |
| Bahrain | BHR |
| Bangladesh | BGD |
| Barbados | BRB |
| Belarus | BLR |
| Belgium | BEL |
| Belize | BLZ |
| Benin | BEN |
| Bermuda | BMU |
| Bhutan | BTN |
| Bolivia | BOL |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | BIH |
| Botswana | BWA |
| Bouvet Island | BVT |
| Brazil | BRA |
| British Indian Ocean Territory | IOT |
| Brunei Darussalam | BRN |
| Bulgaria | BGR |
| Burkina Faso | BFA |
| Burundi | BDI |
| Cambodia | KHM |
| Cameroon | CMR |
| Canada | CAN |
| Cape Verde | CPV |
| Cayman Islands | CYM |
| Central African Republic | CAF |
| Chad | TCD |
| Chile | CHL |
| China | CHN |
| Christmas Island | CXR |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands | CCK |
| Colombia | COL |
| Comoros | COM |
| Congo | COG |
| Cook Islands | COK |
| Costa Rica | CRI |
| Côte d'Ivoire | CIV |
| Croatia | HRV |
| Cuba | CUB |
| Cyprus | CYP |
| Czech Republic | CZE |
| Democratic People's Republic of Korea | PRK |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | COD |
| Denmark | DNK |
| Djibouti | DJI |
| Dominica | DMA |
| Dominican Republic | DOM |
| East Timor | TMP |
| Ecuador | ECU |
| Egypt | EGY |
| El Salvador | SLV |
| Equatorial Guinea | GNQ |
| Eritrea | ERI |
| Estonia | EST |
| Ethiopia | ETH |
| Falkland Islands (Malvinas) | FLK |
| Faeroe Islands | FRO |
| Fiji | FJI |
| Finland | FIN |
| France | FRA |
| France, Metropolitan | FXX |
| French Guiana | GUF |
| French Polynesia | PYF |
| Gabon | GAB |
| Gambia | GMB |
| Georgia | GEO |
| Germany | D |
| Ghana | GHA |
| Gibraltar | GIB |
| Greece | GRC |
| Greenland | GRL |
| Grenada | GRD |
| Guadeloupe | GLP |
| Guam | GUM |
| Guatemala | GTM |
| Guinea | GIN |
| Guinea-Bissau | GNB |
| Guyana | GUY |
| Haiti | HTI |
| Heard and McDonald Islands | HMD |
| Holy See (Vatican City State) | VAT |
| Honduras | HND |
| Hong Kong | HKG |
| Hungary | HUN |
| Iceland | ISL |
| India | IND |
| Indonesia | IDN |
| Iran, Islamic Republic of | IRN |
| Iraq | IRQ |
| Ireland | IRL |
| Israel | ISR |
| Italy | ITA |
| Jamaica | JAM |
| Japan | JPN |
| Jordan | JOR |
| Kazakhstan | KAZ |
| Kenya | KEN |
| Kiribati | KIR |
| Kuwait | KWT |
| Kyrgyzstan | KGZ |
| Lao People's Democratic Republic | LAO |
| Latvia | LVA |
| Lebanon | LBN |
| Lesotho | LSO |
| Liberia | LBR |
| Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | LBY |
| Liechtenstein | LIE |
| Lithuania | LTU |
| Luxembourg | LUX |
| Madagascar | MDG |
| Malawi | MWI |
| Malaysia | MYS |
| Maldives | MDV |
| Mali | MLI |
| Malta | MLT |
| Marshall Islands | MHL |
| Martinique | MTQ |
| Mauritania | MRT |
| Mauritius | MUS |
| Mayotte | MYT |
| Mexico | MEX |
| Micronesia, Federated States of | FSM |
| Monaco | MCO |
| Mongolia | MNG |
| Montserrat | MSR |
| Morocco | MAR |
| Mozambique | MOZ |
| Myanmar | MMR |
| Namibia | NAM |
| Nauru | NRU |
| Nepal | NPL |
| Netherlands, Kingdom of the | NLD |
| Netherlands Antilles | ANT |
| Neutral Zone | NTZ |
| New Caledonia | NCL |
| New Zealand | NZL |
| Nicaragua | NIC |
| Niger | NER |
| Nigeria | NGA |
| Niue | NIU |
| Norfolk Island | NFK |
| Northern Mariana Islands | MNP |
| Norway | NOR |
| Oman | OMN |
| Pakistan | PAK |
| Palau | PLW |
| Panama | PAN |
| Papua New Guinea | PNG |
| Paraguay | PRY |
| Peru | PER |
| Philippines | PHL |
| Pitcairn | PCN |
| Poland | POL |
| Portugal | PRT |
| Puerto Rico | PRI |
| Qatar | QAT |
| Republic of Korea | KOR |
| Republic of Moldova | MDA |
| Réunion | REU |
| Romania | ROM |
| Russian Federation | RUS |
| Rwanda | RWA |
| Saint Helena | SHN |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | KNA |
| Saint Lucia | LCA |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | SPM |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | VCT |
| Samoa | WSM |
| San Marino | SMR |
| Sao Tome and Principe | STP |
| Saudi Arabia | SAU |
| Senegal | SEN |
| Seychelles | SYC |
| Sierra Leone | SLE |
| Singapore | SGP |
| Slovakia | SVK |
| Slovenia | SVN |
| Solomon Islands | SLB |
| Somalia | SOM |
| South Africa | ZAF |
| South Georgia and the South Sandwich Island | SGS |
| Spain | ESP |
| Sri Lanka | LKA |
| Sudan | SDN |
| Suriname | SUR |
| Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands | SJM |
| Swaziland | SWZ |
| Sweden | SWE |
| Switzerland | CHE |
| Syrian Arab Republic | SYR |
| Taiwan Province of China | TWN |
| Tajikistan | TJK |
| Thailand | THA |
| The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | MKD |
| Togo | TGO |
| Tokelau | TKL |
| Tonga | TON |
| Trinidad and Tobago | TTO |
| Tunisia | TUN |
| Turkey | TUR |
| Turkmenistan | TKM |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | TCA |
| Tuvalu | TUV |
| Uganda | UGA |
| Ukraine | UKR |
| United Arab Emirates | ARE |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | |
| - Citizen | GBR |
| - Dependent territories citizen | GBD |
| - National (overseas) | GBN |
| - Overseas citizen | GBO |
| - Protected Person | GBP |
| - Subject | GBS |
| United Republic of Tanzania | TZA |
| United States of America | USA |
| United States of America Minor Outlying Islands | UMI |
| Uruguay | URY |
| Uzbekistan | UZB |
| Vanuatu | VUT |
| Venezuela | VEN |
| Viet Nam | VNM |
| Virgin Islands (Great Britian) | VGB |
| Virgin Islands (United States) | VIR |
| Wallis and Futuna Islands | WLF |
| Western Sahara | ESH |
| Yemen | YEM |
| Zaire | ZAR |
| Zambia | ZMB |
| Zimbabwe | ZWE |
| United Nations Organization
(If indicating nationality,
indicates an UN offical) | UNO |
| United Nations
specialized agency official | UNA |
| Stateless (per Article 1 of 1954 convention) | XXA |
| Refugee
(per Article 1 of 1951 convention,
amended by 1967 protocol) | XXB |
| Refugee (non-convention) | XXC |
| Unspecified / Unknown | XXX |
