MRZ

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MRZ is "Machine Readable Zone"—typically on a passport. This "zone" is used by an electronic scanning device that is capable of interpreting the data by using Optical character recognition. For instance, while crossing a border in an airport, a passport is put into this device and the MRZ is read by a passport-reader.

For technical description, see ISO/IEC 7501-1:1997, ISO/IEC 7501-2:1997, and ISO/IEC 7501-03:1997 or the International Civil Aviation Organization document "ICAO Document 9303".

MRZ on a passport

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Here is an example of the fields in a 2 line MRZ, used in passports. Each line contains 44 characters, only characters A through Z, 0 through 9, and the filler character "<" are allowed:

PTiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
#########CbbbYYMMDDCsyymmddCppppppppppppppCX

The meaning of the fields in this example is following:

P - document type (the value "P" designates a passport)

T - document sub-type (the issuing party uses this field to distinguish between different types of documents; if unused a "<" is assigned)

iii - Issuing Country (country or organization, encoded in three characters, based on ISO 3166 alpha-3 codes, used by United Nations Statistics Division)

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn - Name (uppercase)(the general format is "LAST<NAME<<FIRST<NAME<ADDITIONAL<NAMES<<<<<; puncuation (like hyphens) are replaced with "<"; the surname is given first, then the 2 filler characters ("<<"), then given names; separate names in the surname or given name are separated with the filler character "<"; the filler character "<" pads the field to fill 39 characters)

######### - Document Number (This is the document number, as assigned by the issuing authority)

C - Check digit (calculation based on the previous field: the first check digit is based on the document number, the next is based on the date of birth, the next on the expiration date, and the next on the personal number)

bbb - Nationality (the issuing country or organization, encoded in three characters)

YYMMDD - Date of Birth (document holder's birth in YYMMDD form)

S - Sex (Sex of the document holder: M for males, F for females, "<" for non-specified)

yymmdd - document expiration date (in YYMMDD form)

pppppppppppppp - Personal Identification Number, context - country (in case the given country supports citizen identification codes or numbering)

X - Final check digit (calculated for positions 1 to 10, 14 to 20, and 22 to 43 on the second line: nationality and sex are excluded from the check)

Check Digit Calculations

The input is broken into individual characteres and numbers.

Non-digits are converted 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

Each number is multiplied 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).