Weird MRZ code on my passport

Question

I have an Indian passport, which has given trouble scanning in different places. However, the data was entered manually by the officer, whenever it failed to scan. On examining closely, I noticed that its MRZ format is different. Typically, passports have 2 x 44 characters. But my passport has 2 x 42 characters. I looked everywhere to see if such a format exists. Please let me know if you're aware of such a format. FYI: The document is legit and was issued recently.

Also, please let me know if it may pose problems in international travel, especially to the US.

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Just wanted to give some more context here.

The passport with bad MRZ has a valid visa. The visa itself has a MRZ which looks good. In that case, what would be your recommendation on the following actions?

1. Should I get a new passport with non faulty MRZ? In that case, when I travel, I will travel with 2 passports; The old passport will have a faulty MRZ but valid visa. And the new passport will have a non faulty / valid MRZ.

2. Should I not bother applying for a new passport as I already have a valid visa on the current passport (with non scanable MRZ)? In which case, I will just continue to use my current passport with valid visa as is.

Answer 1

Your document is not a valid passport. You should contact the issuing authority and discuss this with them, with a view to obtaining a new copy.

The details of how a passport should look are defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization, an agency of the United Nations. The standards defined cover all details of the "biometrics" page - including the "Machine Readable Zone" (MRZ) at the bottom of this page.

The format for the MRZ is defined in ICAO Doc 9303.4, section 4.2.2, which clearly defines that both lines of the MRZ for a passport should be 44 characters long. (Note that there are different formats for the MRZ on a visa or other documents)

This section specifically states that for line 1 of the MRZ :

When all components of the primary and secondary identifiers and required separators (filler characters) do not exceed 39 characters in total, all name components shall be included in the MRZ and all unused character positions shall be completed with filler characters (<) repeated up to position 44 as required.

For the line 2 of the MRZ, the 44th character position is defined as a required field :

44 Composite check digit

The MRZ on a passport serves 2 purposes - the first is obviously that it provides the details of the passport in a format that can easily be read by a computer, but the information contained in the MRZ is also used to decrypt the information contained on the "chip" on the e-passport. Whilst it's possible to obtain that information from elsewhere on the biometric page, any automated systems that read the passport will use the MRZ to obtain this information.

Your passport not having valid data on the MRZ will be a massive red flag to immigration staff that the document may be counterfeit, and if they realize that the MRZ is invalid you can expect some serious scrutiny at immigration in pretty much any country.

If you have a phone that contains an NFC reader you may want to download one of the apps that allow reading the "chip" on the passport. These will normally need to take a photo of the MRZ first (as I said above, this data is used to encrypt the data on the chip) which likely won't work - so you'll need to find one that will allow you to enter that data manually. If the data on the chip can't be read, or if it is not your data, then you have an even more serious issue!

Answer 2

Please let me know if you're aware of such a format. FYI: The document is legit and was issued recently.

Doc's answer goes over the specification in some detail. There's only one format for the MRZ of a passport, two rows of 44 characters each.

Also, please let me know if it may pose problems in international travel, especially to the US.

Yes, it can pose problems, but as you've seen the problems are fairly minimal, primarily consisting of immigration officers and others having to enter data manually instead of scanning it from the MRZ of the passport. Nobody is going to send you home because the passport can't be scanned.

Specifically with regard to the US, apply for your visa as early as you possibly can, so you have time to get a new passport if the consulate demands it. I doubt they will. If they insert a visa into your faulty passport then you can be quite certain that the passport is acceptable.