Get DocFila — free on iOS & Android
Scan, sign, edit, translate, and store your documents in one app. Free to download, with optional paid features. No ads.
Or open the web app in any browser.
What the Machine-Readable Zone is, how OCR reads it, and how to use DocFila's Read MRZ on a scan.
The Machine-Readable Zone is the two- or three-line block of OCR-B-font characters at the bottom of a passport, ID card, or visa. It encodes name, document number, nationality, date of birth, expiry date, and a check digit per field — designed to be read by a scanner at an airport in under a second.
OCR-B is a font designed for reliable optical recognition, so ordinary OCR can read an MRZ from a clear scan. In DocFila, scan the passport or ID and tap Read MRZ in the scan editor: DocFila runs OCR on the page, parses the lines, and shows the name, document number, issuing country, nationality, birth date, expiry and sex, plus whether each check digit passes. Review the values; a failed check digit usually means a misread character.
Read MRZ is a tool in the DocFila app for your own scans. DocFila does not offer an SDK or API for adding MRZ reading to another company's onboarding flow.
Keep going with the document workflow that matches this page. Open the tool you need, then finish the file in DocFila.
Scan, sign, edit, translate, and store your documents in one app. Free to download, with optional paid features. No ads.
Or open the web app in any browser.