Verifying a U.S. Passport Card: a Complete Guide in 4 Checks (MRZ, Security, Validity)

Article updated in February 2026 to reflect the latest developments in U.S. passport cards and online document verification tools.

The U.S. passport card is an optional national identity document issued by the federal government of the United States, in credit card format (ID-1). It allows its holder to travel on domestic flights within the United States and to cross land and sea borders in North America, but it cannot be used for international air travel.

Like any official identity document, the U.S. passport card may be exposed to documentary fraud risks: expired cards, visual alterations, inconsistencies between displayed information, MRZ forgery, tampering with security features, or identity theft.

In 2026, it is now possible to carry out an initial online verification thanks to document analysis and automated MRZ reading, before completing this analysis with a thorough visual inspection of the physical security features.

How can you verify a U.S. passport card and ensure that the document presented is authentic?
The answer in this guide, through 4 essential control steps.

Before any visual inspection, it is now possible to perform an initial automatic verification using a simple image of the passport card.

This step allows in particular:

• automatic reading of the MRZ
• validation of check digits
• consistency checks between fields (name, date of birth, expiration date, nationality, document number)
• detection of data entry errors or common inconsistencies
• generation of a time-stamped PDF report

⚠️ There is currently no public database allowing official validation of a U.S. passport card.

Online verification therefore relies exclusively on documentary analysis and must be complemented by a visual inspection of security features.

When access to the original document is possible, the first step is to examine the overall appearance of the card.

The passport card must show no signs of cutting, delamination, gluing, or visible alteration. Particular attention should be paid to the photo area, card edges, and raised printed zones.

Any signs of scratching, heat exposure, overprinting, or partial replacement constitute a warning signal.

The U.S. passport card is made of polycarbonate, designed to make any attempt at alteration immediately visible.

The second step consists of verifying the consistency of the information visible on the passport card and its correspondence with the data encoded in the MRZ.

Recommended verification points include:

• document number
• date of birth
• surname and given name(s)
• holder’s gender
• expiration date

Any discrepancy, even a minor one, between printed fields and the MRZ should be considered a warning requiring further investigation.

It is also recommended to assess the overall coherence of the document: holder’s age, validity period, logical consistency of fields, and date formats.

The document number can be found in two different places: at the top of the front side and in the first line of the MRZ (Machine Readable Zone).

Both must be identical:

The holder’s date of birth can also be found in two different places: in the center of the front side of the card, and at the start of the second MRZ line in the YYMMDD format:

Similarly, the last and first names can be found on the front of the card and in the third line of the MRZ:

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

Finally, the last item that appears twice on the card: the expiration date, found on the front and in the second MRZ line in YYMMDD format:

The U.S. passport card features a three-line MRZ compliant with ICAO standards.

The MRZ reproduces the main document information in a standardized format and includes several check digits designed to detect reading errors and many forgery attempts.

MRZ analysis allows you to:

• verify the document structure
• mathematically validate encoded data
• detect transcription errors or inconsistencies

The check digits are based on the standard ICAO algorithm using fixed weights (7, 3, and 1), making this verification reliable, fast, and easily automatable.

1. Document Type: 2 characters, code indicating the document type, represented by the letters “IP.”
2. Issuing Country: 3 characters, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code of the issuing country; for the United States it is “USA.”
3. Card Number: 9 characters, unique card number.
4. Check Digit: 1 character, check digit of the unique card number.
5. End of Line: 15 characters, internal administrative codes with chevrons “<” used to fill the line.

1. Date of Birth: 6 characters, year, month and day of birth in YYMMDD format.
2. Check Digit: 1 character, check digit of the date of birth.
3. Sex: 1 character, “M” for male, “F” for female.
4. Expiration Date: 6 digits, card expiration date in YYMMDD format.
5. Check Digit: 1 character, check digit of the expiration date.
6. Country Code: 3 characters, ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code of the holder’s nationality (here USA).
7. Separator: 2 chevrons “<<”
8. State Department Document Control Number: 9 characters, State Department control number.
9. Check Digit: 1 character, check digit of the concatenation of characters line 1 positions 6-15, line 2 positions 1-7, and line 2 positions 9-15.

1. Holder’s Last Name and First Names: holder’s last name followed by the first name(s). The last and first names are separated by two “<” characters. Compound last names, compound first names, or multiple first names are separated by a single “<” character. Spaces and apostrophes are replaced by “<”. The last name is truncated to 30 characters if necessary, and any accents on letters are removed. The line is then completed by “<”.

A U.S. passport card contains 4 check digits (or security keys) which validate the information preceding them.

They help prevent transcription errors or intentional/unintentional modifications.

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

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

Let’s take as an example the check digit of the date of birth from the specimen above.

The character string to validate is: “810101”.

To calculate the check digit we proceed as follows:

– “8” has a value of 8 and is in first position, so multiply by 7: 8 * 7 = 56

– “1” has a value of 1 and is in second position, so multiply by 3: 1 * 3 = 3, add to the previous 56, total 3 + 56 = 59.

– “0” has a value of 0 and is in third position, so multiply by 1: 0 * 1 = 0, add to the previous 59, total 0 + 59 = 59.

– 1 * 7 = 7 and 7 + 59 = 66

– 0 * 3 = 0 and 0 + 66 = 66

– 1 * 1 = 1 and 1 + 66 = 67

We obtain a total of 67, from which we take modulo 10 (remainder of division by 10), keeping only the last digit, which is “7”.

Our check digit is therefore valid since the document shows a 7!

This final step aims to confirm the physical authenticity of the U.S. passport card.

It complements documentary analysis by examining security features that are difficult to reproduce, such as:

• holographic device protecting the photograph
• contactless electronic chip
• multiple laser image (MLI)
• optically variable ink
• elements visible only under ultraviolet light

Some of these features can be verified with the naked eye, while others require specialized equipment.

A next-generation holographic device is used to protect the holder’s photograph on the card.

It changes color depending on the angle:

An electronic chip is embedded in the card and allows contactless reading of the information present on the document.

The image changes depending on the orientation of the card.

This device is found on the front, top left of the card:

Some elements are only visible under ultraviolet light, but this requires specialized equipment (thus not suitable for verifying a U.S. passport card online).

The ink changes color depending on the angle.

You now have a structured and reliable method to verify a U.S. passport card: MRZ analysis, cross-checking of information, and visual inspection of security features.

Without specialized equipment, this combined approach already allows detection of a large proportion of common documentary fraud cases.

To go further, it is also possible to use an online document verification solution.

For example, TrustDocHub allows you to automatically verify a U.S. passport card from an image, with results delivered directly in the application and as a PDF report.