This guide is for individuals going through a Persona-powered identity verification flow. While we’ve included helpful tips, the verification was set up by the business, service, or organization that asked you to verify. They use Persona as a tool, and they ultimately decide what’s required and can assist with your specific situation, if you’re having trouble.
First, check whether it really does not
Reading a passport chip needs NFC hardware in the phone. The quickest test: if you have ever paid by tapping your phone on a card reader, it has NFC.
If you are not sure, look for NFC in your phone settings, or search the web for your exact model. A laptop or desktop computer cannot do this step at all, and neither can most tablets.
If it has NFC but the scan never starts
The hardware being present is not the same as it being available:
- Turn NFC on in settings. On Android it is usually under connected devices or connections. On an iPhone it is built in and always on, with nothing to switch.
- Take the case off, especially a thick one, a wallet case, or one with a metal plate.
- Use the right part of the phone. On an iPhone the reader is at the top of the back. On Android it is usually at the top or the middle of the back.
- Turn off Low Power Mode, which can keep the reader from starting.
How to scan your passport, ID card, or residence permit with NFC has the full walkthrough, and My NFC scan starts and then fails covers a scan that begins and then drops.
If your document has no chip
Not every document has one. Most modern passports do, and many European ID cards and residence permits do, but a card with no chip symbol printed on it is not going to scan no matter what phone you use. The United States Passport Card is a common example that will not work.
Check for the chip symbol on the cover or the card, as shown in How to scan your passport, ID card, or residence permit with NFC.
Your options when the phone cannot do it
- Move to a phone that can. If the verification flow offers it, you can continue on another device by scanning a QR code or following a link sent to that phone. See Device handoff: continue verification on another device. Borrowing a phone for this step is fine, as long as you are the one being verified.
- See whether the flow offers a photo instead. Some verifications accept a photo of the passport photo page as an alternative to the chip. If that option appears, take it, and use How to take a photo the scan can read.
- Ask the business. If the chip scan is the only route offered and you have no way to do it, the business that asked you to verify is the one who decides what else they accept. Persona cannot change the steps in their flow.