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Scanning passports

My passport is from another country

How a foreign passport works in verification, and what to do if it will not scan.

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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.

A foreign passport is usually fine

Passports from other countries are accepted by most verification flows. The scanner reads the passport itself, including the machine-readable zone, and does not require it to be from your current country. The steps are the same as for any other passport.

Scan the passport photo page

Open your passport to the page with your photo and personal details, and scan that page the way the flow shows you. Take the whole page in frame, fill the frame with the page, and keep the camera still.

When a foreign passport gives trouble

If the scan keeps failing, work through the usual passport fixes first: higher, even lighting; no glare; a flat, still page; and the page fully visible. See My passport photo page is blurry for the general fix list.

If it still will not read

Some in person checks or older scans work better with a different identifier. Ask the business that set up the flow whether your residence permit or visa in your current country is an option, and see I moved to a new country for the wider picture.

Who can help

The business that asked you to verify

They set up the verification, see the result, and decide what happens next, so they are the ones who can help with your result, what they need from you, or another try. Look for their help or contact page in the app, site, or email where your verification started.

Need to reach Persona instead?

Persona provides the verification tool for the business that asked you to verify, but it cannot approve, re-run, or override their decision. For any problem with your verification, including a page that will not load or a button that does nothing, we recommend contacting the app or service you are trying to access, which is named in the verification flow.

If you would still like to reach Persona, you can contact Persona support.

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