Verify a French passport online : 4 checkpoints

Verifying a person’s identity is necessary across many sectors to prevent fraud and identity theft.

Passports are widely used documents in this context and contain several security features: so, how to verify a French passport online and ensure that the presented document is authentic? The answer is in this article!

The first step when verifying a French passport online, if you have access to the original document, is to check the overall appearance: there should be no signs of cutting, peeling, modification, or correction.

Pay special attention to the area around the photo.

The second step to verify a French passport online is to ensure the consistency of the information on the document.

The document type can be found in two places: at the top left and at the beginning of the first line of the MRZ zone.

Both must be identical:

The document number can be found in two places: at the top right on the front and at the beginning of the second line of the MRZ zone.

Both must be identical:

The holder’s date of birth can also be found in two distinct places: in the middle of the document and at the middle of the second line of the MRZ in YYMMDD format:

Similarly for surname and given names, which can be found at the top left of the document and in the first line of the MRZ zone:

The holder’s gender is indicated by “M” for male and “F” for female. This information can be found in the middle of the document and in the second line of the MRZ zone:

Another element present twice on the passport is the expiration date, which can be found at the bottom of the document and in the second line of the MRZ in YYMMDD format:

The issuing country can be found in two places: at the top of the document and at the beginning of the first line of the MRZ zone:

Nationality can be found in two places on the document: at the top left and in the middle of the second line of the MRZ zone:

The lower part of the French passport is composed of two lines that repeat the information present on the passport, with validation keys that prevent reading errors or falsifications.

1. Document Type: 2 characters, code indicating the type of document, represented by the letters “P<“.
2. Issuing Country: 3 characters, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code of the issuing country.
3. Surname(s): holder’s surname(s), separated by a chevron “<“.
4. Given name(s): holder’s given name(s), separated from the surname by two chevrons, and separated from each other by a chevron “<“.

1. Document Number: 9 characters, passport number printed on the document.
2. Check Digit: 1 character, check digit for the document number.
3. Nationality: 3 characters, nationality of the holder.
4. Date of Birth: 6 digits, date of birth of the passport holder in YYMMDD format.
5. Check Digit: 1 character, check digit for the date of birth.
6. Gender: 1 character, gender of the holder (“M” or “F”).
7. Expiration Date: 6 digits, passport expiration date in YYMMDD format.
8. Check Digit: 1 character, check digit for the concatenation of characters from line 2 positions 44-54, 57-64, and 65-87.

A French passport includes 5 check digits (or security keys) that validate the preceding information.

They prevent transcription errors or modifications, intentional or not.

The algorithm used to create and validate the check digits is common to all identity documents: characters have a weight, multiplied by a factor depending on their position in the string (7, 3, and 1).

Digits have their face value (“0” is 0, “1” is 1, …, “9” is 9), the chevron “<” also has a value of 0, while letters have weights starting at 10 for “A”, 11 for “B”, up to 35 for “Z”.

Let’s take the check digit for the date of birth in the example above.

The character string to validate is: “730712”.

To calculate the check digit, proceed as follows:

– “7” has a value of 7 and is in the first position, so multiply by 7: 7 * 7 = 49.

– “3” has a value of 3 and is in the second position, so multiply by 3: 3 * 3 = 9, add to previous 49: 9 + 49 = 58.

– “0” has a value of 0 and is in the third position, so multiply by 1: 0 * 1 = 0, add to previous 58: 0 + 58 = 58.

– 7 * 7 = 49 and 49 + 58 = 107

– 1 * 3 = 3 and 3 + 107 = 110

– 2 * 1 = 2 and 2 + 110 = 112

We get a total of 112, from which we take modulo 10 (the remainder of the division by 10), which corresponds to keeping only the last digit, “2”.

Our check digit is thus valid because “2” appears on the document!

An identity document features various elements that help validate its authenticity.

This is the final step to verify a French passport online, as it is the most time-consuming.

A next-generation holographic device is used to protect the hexagon stamped “RF” at the top right of the document.

This device changes color depending on the viewing angle:

A security film is applied on the page to protect certain elements.

This film changes color depending on the angle of view:

A secondary or “ghost” black and white photo is visible just next to the original photo:

Information appears as a watermark on the first page of the document:

Some elements are visible only under ultraviolet light, but this requires specialized equipment (so it’s not suitable for verifying a French passport online):

You now have all the keys to verify a French passport online and ensure it is authentic!

No specialized equipment is needed: a bit of vigilance and time will help you avoid most of the frauds you might encounter daily!

You can also use our service which will perform the checks in seconds via our web application: results are available directly in the app and as a PDF report!