MRZ- Machine readable zone.
The ICAO document 9303 describes specifications common to all Machine Readable Travel Documents.
MRZ fonts: OCR-B
- •Machine readable passports (MRP) : 2 lines of 44 characters
- •Machine readable visas (MRV): 2 lines 44 characters, 2 lines 36 characters
- •Travel documents(ID Card/ driver’s license): 2 lines of 36 characters, 3 lines of 30 characters
Official travel documents(ID cards)
Smaller documents such as identity and passport cards are usually in the TD1 size, which is 85.6 * 54.0 mm (3.37 * 2.13 in), the same size as credit cards. The data of the machine-readable zone in a TD1 size card consists of three rows of 30 characters each. The only characters used are A–Z, 0–9 and the filler character <.
Some official travel documents are in the larger TD2 size, 105.0 * 74.0 (4.13 * 2.91 in). They have a layout of the MRZ with two rows of 36 characters each, similar to the TD3 format, but with 31 characters for the name, 7 for the personal number and one less check digit. Yet some official travel documents are in the booklet format with a TD3 identity page.
The format of the first row for TD1 (credit card size) documents is:
| Positions | Length | Chars | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | alpha | I, A or C |
| 2 | 1 | alpha+< | Type, This is at the discretion of the issuing state or authority, but 1–2 should be IP for passport cards, AC for Crew Member Certificates and V is not allowed as 2nd character. ID or I< are typically used for nationally issued ID cards |
| 3–5 | 3 | alpha+< | Issuing country or organization (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code with modifications) |
| 6–14 | 9 | alpha+num+< | Document number |
| 15 | 1 | num+< | Check digit over digits 6–14 |
| 16–30 | 15 | alpha+num+< | Optional |
Machine readable passport (MRP)
Passport booklets have an identity page containing the identity data. This page shall be in the TD3 size which means 125 × 88 mm (4.92 × 3.46 in).
The data of the machine-readable zone consists of two rows of 44 characters each. The only characters used are A–Z, 0–9 and the filler character <.
The format of the first row is:
| Positions | Length | Characters | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | alpha | P, indicating a passport |
| 2 | 1 | alpha+< | Type (for countries that distinguish between different types of passports) |
| 3–5 | 3 | alpha+< | Issuing country or organization (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code with modifications) |
| 6–44 | 39 | alpha+< | Surname, followed by two filler characters, followed by given names. Given names are separated by single filler characters |
Machine-readable visas
The ICAO Document 9303 part 7 describes machine-readable visas. They come in two different formats:
- MRV-A – 80 mm × 120 mm (3.15 in × 4.72 in)
- MRV-B – 74 mm × 105 mm (2.91 in × 4.13 in)
The format of the first row of the machine-readable zone is:
| Positions | Length | Chars | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | alpha | “V” |
| 2 | 1 | alpha+< | Type, this is at the discretion of the issuing state or authority |
| 3–5 | 3 | alpha+< | Issuing country or organization (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code with modifications) |
| 6–44 | 39 | alpha+< | Name in MRV-A |
| 6–36 | 31 | alpha+< | Name in MRV-B |
The format of the second row is:
| Positions | Length | Chars | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-9 | 9 | alpha+num+< | Passport or Visa number |
| 10 | 1 | num | Check digit |
| 11–13 | 3 | alpha+< | Nationality |
| 14–19 | 6 | num | Date of birth |
| 20 | 1 | num | Check digit |
| 21 | 1 | alpha+< | Sex |
| 22-27 | 6 | num | Valid until |
| 28 | 1 | num | Check digit |
| 29–44 | 16 | alpha+num+< | Optional data in MRV-A |
| 29–36 | 8 | alpha+num+< | Optional data in MRV-B |