Timeline for Weird MRZ code on my passport
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 4 at 18:50 | comment | added | phoog | @ife you edited the question to say that there is a valid visa in the passport. Is it a US visa? | |
| Mar 3 at 17:18 | comment | added | user144439 | @Doc, let me know your recommendation | |
| Mar 3 at 15:54 | comment | added | user144439 | Hello All. Please see the edit your the question and give your recommendations. Thanks you! | |
| Mar 3 at 1:05 | comment | added | phoog |
@Doc in fact, the specification further prohibits digits in the second position. The character there must be one of the 26 letters A-Z or the < placeholder.
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| Mar 3 at 0:51 | comment | added | phoog |
@Doc no it isn't. Allowed characters in the MRZ are 0-9, A-Z, and <. The issuing country can choose one of those 37 characters at its discretion. It can't use a > character (nor any other character that isn't one of the 37). Which is why that passport also can't be scanned.
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| Mar 3 at 0:18 | comment | added | Doc | The MRZ in that question is still technically correct - the 2nd field is "at the discretion of the issuing State or organization". The one in this question is not. | |
| Mar 2 at 23:45 | comment | added | phoog | @Doc I expect that the visa officer will already have noticed that and noted it in the record. This is the second question we've had in six months concerning a faulty MRZ (travel.stackexchange.com/q/183639/19400). Surely they're common enough that immigration officers see them fairly regularly. The passport will have all the other indicia of authenticity (UV marks, for example), so a more likely conclusion is that it's an error in a legitimate passport rather than that it was forged by someone who could print UV marks correctly but couldn't be bothered to read the ICAO spécification. | |
| Mar 2 at 23:08 | comment | added | Doc | If the immigration officials realize the reason the passport isn't scanning is because it's an invalid format then they are at least going to send the person to secondary security and have the passport examined under the presumption that it's fake. Yes, it's possible they won't realize that's why it's not scanning, but personally I wouldn't be taking that chance! | |
| Mar 2 at 22:39 | history | answered | phoog | CC BY-SA 4.0 |