Fill a passport from its two machine lines

Every passport has two lines of letters, numbers and < signs at the bottom of the photo page. They hold the names, passport number, nationality, date of birth, sex and expiry date. Paste them and the system reads them for you, so there are no typing mistakes.

Before you start

• You need permission to add and edit travellers.
• Get the two lines as text: scan the photo page with a document scanner or a phone app that reads text, then copy the two lines. Both lines are needed, each in full.

Steps

For a saved traveller, on Travellers

1. Open Travellers and click the traveller.
2. Press Scan passport (or Scan again when a passport is already saved). The Scan passport window opens.
3. Paste the two lines into Passport lines (MRZ).
4. Press Read passport. It becomes active once you have pasted at least 40 characters.

While adding or editing a traveller (also from a customer's Travels with)

1. In the Add traveller or Edit traveller window, press Paste passport lines.
2. Paste the two lines into Passport lines (MRZ).
3. Press Read passport.
4. Check the details that light up, complete the rest (for example the Relation to the customer and the Issued date), and save.

After you read the passport

• These details fill in: Issuing country, Surname, Given names, Passport number, Nationality, Date of birth, Sex and Expires. Names are written with capital first letters.
• From the Scan passport window, the details are saved to the traveller at once: the passport card fills in and the message Passport read. Details filled in. appears.
• From the traveller form, the message says how many details were filled in. They are saved when you press Save or Add traveller.
• The passport state updates, for example from No passport saved to Ready to fly.

If something goes wrong

• Paste both lines from the bottom of the passport page: one line is missing, or the first line does not start with P. Copy both full lines again, exactly as printed.
• Read passport stays greyed out: fewer than 40 characters were pasted. Paste both lines in full.
• A detail is wrong (for example a letter read as a number by your scanner app): correct it in Edit details and save.
• Scan passport is missing: your role cannot edit travellers. Ask the agency owner.