What is a machine-readable passport and why does it matter?
A machine-readable passport has two lines of scannable code at the bottom of the photo page. Every passport used for international travel has had to be machine readable since November 2015.
Updated
What a machine-readable passport is
A machine-readable passport is one whose key details are printed in a fixed, standard layout that a scanner can read without a human typing anything. The standard comes from ICAO, the UN aviation body, and it is why a passport issued in one country can be read by a machine in another.
It affects you the moment you start booking. When you enter a guest name on trip1, use the name exactly as it is printed on the passport, because the hotel matches the reservation against the document you hand over at the front desk.
How to tell if your passport is machine readable
Open your passport at the photo page and look at the very bottom. If you see two long lines of capital letters, numbers and rows of chevrons in a blocky typeface, that is the machine readable zone, usually shortened to MRZ.
Each line holds 44 characters. The chevrons are not decoration, they are filler that keeps every field in exactly the same position no matter how long your name is.
What those two lines contain
- Document type and the country that issued the passport
- Your surname and given names, separated by chevrons
- Passport number, nationality, date of birth, sex and expiry date
- Check digits that let a scanner spot a misread or an altered character
Why it matters for your trip
The MRZ is the version of your identity that computers actually use. Airline check-in scans it and sends passenger data to the destination before you take off, and immigration scans it again on arrival.
It also matters when you apply for an e-visa or a travel authorisation. Those forms ask you to copy your passport number and name exactly as they appear, and the system later compares your entry against the passport itself.
Important: If the name or passport number on your authorisation does not match your passport, the airline can refuse to board you and you lose the flight. Check every character against the photo page before you submit the form, not after.
Machine readable is not the same as biometric
Every biometric passport is machine readable, but not every machine readable passport is biometric. The chip is what adds the biometric layer, and it is explained in the guide to biometric e-passports and how they work at borders.
When the MRZ will not scan
Wear is the usual cause. A photo page that has been through the wash, a lifting laminate, ink transfer from a stamp, or a crease straight through the two lines can all defeat a scanner.
A staffed desk can key your details in manually, so a scuffed MRZ usually means a slower queue rather than a refused entry. Damage severe enough to make the page unreadable is a different matter, and border officers can treat that passport as invalid.
Replace a worn passport before a big trip rather than hoping. Hotels scan the same page at check-in in many countries, so a damaged photo page slows you down at both ends of the journey.
Machine-readable passports - FAQ
Open it at the photo page and look at the very bottom. If you see two long lines of capital letters, numbers and rows of chevrons in a blocky typeface, that is the machine readable zone, and your passport is machine readable. Each line holds 44 characters.
The machine readable zone, or MRZ, is the two-line block of code at the bottom of the photo page. It holds the document type, issuing country, your name, passport number, nationality, date of birth, sex and expiry date, plus check digits that let a scanner spot a misread or altered character.
Yes, if it is still valid. Every US passport book issued since August 2007 is an e-passport, and every e-passport also carries the machine readable zone at the bottom of the photo page. As adult passports last 10 years, any in-date US passport book has both the MRZ and a chip.
No. Under the ICAO standard, non-machine-readable passports, such as handwritten ones, had to be out of circulation by 24 November 2015. If your passport has no two-line code at the bottom of the photo page, you need a new one before you travel internationally.
Every biometric passport is machine readable, but not every machine-readable passport is biometric. The two lines of code make a passport machine readable. A biometric passport adds a chip that stores your details and a digital image of your face, marked by a small camera-style symbol on the cover.
A staffed desk can usually key your details in manually, so a scuffed MRZ normally means a slower queue rather than a refusal. Damage that makes the page unreadable is different, and border officers can treat that passport as invalid. Replace a worn passport before a big trip.