Extract machine-readable zone

The machine-readable zone (MRZ) is typically found on official travel or identity documents of many countries. It can have two or three lines of machine-readable data. A new profile allows processing MRZ written in accordance with ICAO Document 9303.

Extract MRZ

To process MRZ, do as follows:

1. Activate a new profile to extract MRZ.
2. Set the machineReadableZone value to the profile parameter. The result of recognition is returned in the XML format.

note

Only the XML format is supported and is used by default. Thus, you can omit the exportFormat parameter.

warning

The profile is supported by FREngine 12 only. Use API for FREngine 12: /api/v2/..

Explore field types

In the table below, there are possible MRZ field types:

Field type	Description	Example
MrzType	The number of lines in MRZ. It can have one of the following values: 2-line 3-line	2-line MRZ: P<USATRAVELER<<HAPPY<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 3400072370USA6707046F1608078910000193<113538
Line1	All characters of the first line of the machine-readable zone	P\<RUSMALBORSKYI\<\<KOVBOJ\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<\<
Line2	All characters of the second line of the machine-readable zone.	7553279419RUS8712242M2104131<<<<<<<<<<<<<<02
Line3	All characters of the third line of the machine-readable zone (if exists).
DocumentType	The document type. It is the first character of the first line.	P indicates a passport.
DocumentSubtype	The document subtype (if exists). It is the second character of the first line.
IssuingCountry	Code of the issuing state (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code).	USA
LastName	Surname.	TRAVELER
GivenName	One or several given names separated with the space character.	HAPPY
DocumentNumber	The number of a document.	340007237
DocumentNumberVerified	The Boolean value that specifies whether the checksum over the document number matches the check digit. It can have one of the following values: true false	true
DocumentNumberCheck	The check digit over the document number.	0
Nationality	Nationality (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code).	USA
BirthDate	Date of birth in the following format: YYMMDD.	670704
BirthDateVerified	The Boolean value that specifies whether the checksum over the birth date matches the check digit. It can have one of the following values: true false	true
BirthDateCheck	The check digit over the birth date.	6
Sex	Sex. It can have one of the following values: M F <
ExpiryDate	Date of expiry in the following format: YYMMDD.	200807
ExpiryDateVerified	The Boolean value that specifies whether the checksum over the expiry date matches the check digit. It can have one of the following values: true false	true
ExpiryDateCheck	The check digit over the expiry date.	8
PersonalNumber	Personal number. The personal number and its check digit are optional in MRZ.
PersonalNumberVerified	The Boolean value that specifies whether the checksum over the personal number matches the check digit. It can have one of the following values: true false	true
PersonalNumberCheck	The check digit over the personal number. The personal number and its check digit are optional in MRZ.
OptionalDataLine1	Optional data from the first line of the 3-line MRZ.
OptionalDataLine2	Optional data from the second line of the 3-line MRZ.
Checksum	The check digit over the document number, birth date, expiry date, personal number, optional data, and their check digits.	8
ChecksumVerified	The Boolean value that specifies whether the checksum over the document number, birth date, expiry date, personal number, optional data, and their check digits matches the check digit. It can have one of the following values: true false You can check the quality of data extraction by the value of this field. However, mind that there is no check digit over the surname and given names. Therefore, these fields may contain recognition errors even if the checksum over all other fields matches the check digit.	true

View document examples

2-line MRZ

You can find a 2-line MRZ in a U.S. passport.

Extracting 2-line MRZ output

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<MRZData>
    <Field Type="IssuingCountry">
        <Value>USA</Value>
        <Region>
            <Rect>83,1073,129,1090</Rect>
        </Region>
        <Chars>
            <Char>
                <Value>U</Value>
                <Rect>83,1073,94,1090</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>S</Value>
                <Rect>100,1073,111,1090</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>A</Value>
                <Rect>117,1073,129,1090</Rect>
            </Char>
        </Chars>
    </Field>
    <Field Type="LastName">
        <Value>TRAVELER</Value>
        <Region>
            <Rect>134,1073,266,1090</Rect>
        </Region>
        <Chars>
            <Char>
                <Value>T</Value>
                <Rect>134,1073,146,1090</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>R</Value>
                <Rect>152,1073,163,1090</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>A</Value>
                <Rect>169,1073,180,1090</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>V</Value>
                <Rect>185,1073,198,1090</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>E</Value>
                <Rect>204,1073,214,1090</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>L</Value>
                <Rect>221,1073,232,1090</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>E</Value>
                <Rect>238,1073,249,1089</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>R</Value>
                <Rect>255,1073,266,1089</Rect>
            </Char>
        </Chars>
    </Field>
    <Field Type="GivenName">
        <Value>HAPPY</Value>
        <Region>
            <Rect>306,1072,386,1089</Rect>
        </Region>
        <Chars>
            <Char>
                <Value>H</Value>
                <Rect>306,1072,317,1089</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>A</Value>
                <Rect>323,1072,334,1089</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>P</Value>
                <Rect>340,1072,352,1089</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>P</Value>
                <Rect>357,1072,369,1089</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>Y</Value>
                <Rect>374,1072,386,1089</Rect>
            </Char>
        </Chars>
    </Field>
    ...
    <Line1>
        <Value>P<USATRAVELER<<HAPPY<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<</Value>
        <Region>
            <Rect>49,1072,797,1090</Rect>
        </Region>
    </Line1>
    <Line2>
        <Value>3400072370USA6707046F1608078910000193<113538</Value>
        <Region>
            <Rect>48,1114,798,1134</Rect>
        </Region>
    </Line2>
    <Checksum>
        <Value>8</Value>
        <Verified>true</Verified>
    </Checksum>
</MRZData>

3-line MRZ

You can find 3-line MRZ in a U.S. passport card.

Extracting 3-line MRZ output

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<MRZData>
    <Field Type="IssuingCountry">
        <Value>USA</Value>
        <Region>
            <Rect>107,427,187,457</Rect>
        </Region>
        <Chars>
            <Char>
                <Value>U</Value>
                <Rect>107,428,128,457</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>S</Value>
                <Rect>138,427,156,457</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>A</Value>
                <Rect>167,428,187,457</Rect>
            </Char>
        </Chars>
    </Field>
    <Field Type="DocumentNumber">
        <Value>C03004964</Value>
        <Checksum>
            <Value>6</Value>
            <Verified>true</Verified>
        </Checksum>
        <Region>
            <Rect>199,425,458,456</Rect>
        </Region>
        <Chars>
            <Char>
                <Value>C</Value>
                <Rect>199,427,216,456</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>0</Value>
                <Rect>227,426,248,456</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>3</Value>
                <Rect>257,426,276,456</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>0</Value>
                <Rect>287,425,308,456</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>0</Value>
                <Rect>317,425,338,456</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>4</Value>
                <Rect>348,426,368,456</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>9</Value>
                <Rect>377,425,397,456</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>6</Value>
                <Rect>407,426,427,456</Rect>
            </Char>
            <Char>
                <Value>4</Value>
                <Rect>438,426,458,456</Rect>
            </Char>
        </Chars>
    </Field>
    ...
    <Line1>
        <Value>IPUSAC030049646<<10<30<B22<498</Value>
        <Region>
            <Rect>49,422,941,457</Rect>
        </Region>
    </Line1>
    <Line2>
        <Value>8101017M1911297USA<<0754052296</Value>
        <Region>
            <Rect>46,472,940,507</Rect>
        </Region>
    </Line2>
    <Line3>
        <Value>TRAVELER<<HAPPY<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<</Value>
        <Region>
            <Rect>47,524,940,557</Rect>
        </Region>
    </Line3>
    <Checksum>
        <Value>6</Value>
        <Verified>false</Verified>
    </Checksum>
</MRZData>

troubleshooting

For troubleshooting tips, refer to the following support guides:

• Issues related to OCR results quality

• Issues related to no OCR results