Top-Notch Identity Document Processing Worldwide: Brazil

For starters, a common thing for documents issued in Brazil is that there are no plastic ID documents so far. Brazilian identity documents, including ID cards, driver's licenses, and passports, are all printed on paper. This is quite unusual, especially when compared to the global trend of using more durable materials like plastic or polycarbonate. 

The natural wear and tear on paper documents can make data reading and authentication difficult. For instance, if someone accidentally washes their ID card, the bleached paper might fluoresce under UV light, mimicking the behavior of counterfeit documents.

But there are more peculiarities.

Brazilian IDs and Brazilian driver's licenses deviate from standard formats in several ways. 

First, their physical sizes are non-standard:

• 8.5x12 cm for driver's licenses 

• 6.4x19.3 cm for IDs

Additionally, these documents are designed to fold in the middle, resembling booklets rather than traditional cards. This unique design, combined with the fact that meaningful data is spread across two, sometimes three (like in the DLs below), or even four sides, poses significant challenges for automated document verification systems.

Interestingly, Brazilians often use an electronic version of their driver's license. It also includes three to four pages of information.

Furthermore, Brazilian IDs have different security features. For example, the machine-readable zone (MRZ) on ID cards is written in three lines, which is not compliant with ICAO standards for documents of that size. 

Older versions of Brazilian identity cards and driver’s licenses—which are still in circulation—also varied by state, with each state having its own, sometimes unique template. The newer unified template still specifies the state but maintains a consistent overall design.

Verifying a Brazilian passport can be challenging because they have undergone numerous design changes in recent years. The Brazilians witnessed updates in 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, and the most recent in 2023.

Not every update, though, brought significant changes to the layman's eye: for instance, the 2016 series had a minor difference in the document number.

One of the most prominent features of the new Brazilian passport is a vibrant hologram across the entire data page. While visually striking, this hologram can make the data page difficult to read, especially in remote settings.

Brazilian passport also contains an RFID chip, which ensures solid protection against forgery.

To effectively process Brazilian IDs, it is crucial for document verification solutions to support Portuguese, as most fields are written in this language. 

Also, every Brazilian ID contains an 11-digit CPF number (Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas), which serves as the taxpayer ID number. The CPF resembles the US Social Security Number (SSN) to some extent, and is essential for various activities in Brazil, such as opening a bank account, filing taxes, purchasing property, and even making online purchases. 

Another unique feature in Brazilian IDs is the inclusion of the parents' names, which is not commonly seen in other countries' identity documents.

Given their unique characteristics, effectively processing Brazilian identity cards, passports, and driver’s licenses requires a mixture of specialized solutions and country-specific expertise. 

Regula's expertise in document authentication and verification, honed through years of experience, is well-suited for this task. Our solutions are designed to handle Brazilian IDs' non-standard formats; also, we support multiple languages, including Portuguese, and authenticate various security features, even with the challenges posed by paper-based documents.

Additionally, our cooperation with international organizations, such as joint training with INTERPOL on travel document examination for the National Institute of Criminalistics in Brasilia, highlights our commitment to staying at the forefront of document security and authentication in the LatAm region.

Are you on a quest to find the best solution for reliably handling Brazilian IDs? Don’t hesitate to discover what Regula Document Reader SDK has to offer.