The Hardest Passports to Verify [KYC Approval Statistics]

Government-issued ID documents, including passports, driver’s licenses, ID cards, or residence permits, are widely accepted documents for Know Your Customer, or KYC verification. Oftentimes, the user is asked to capture one of these documents automatically by either taking a photo using their phone/laptop or fitting it into the system’s frame, allowing the KYC software to automatically assess all of the security features and personal data, extracting it from the document.

This helps the user not enter any information manually, making the process simple and quick. However, ID verification is here for a reason, and that is to prevent identity fraud and ensure compliance in high-risk, regulated industries, as part of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements. And with the high-speed development of AI, it’s now used not only for technological advancements like this, but also for bypassing security systems like user onboarding and document forgery. 

I review how document verification works in KYC and look into different countries and their passports, including those that are commonly considered to be the hardest to verify, showing why certain types have better approval rates than others. 

How Does the Process of Passport Verification Work for KYC?

In the context of KYC compliance, passport verification works by automatically checking if the user’s passport is valid and authentic, verifying if it belongs to the real passport holder who’s completing the KYC check in real time. 

In general, passport verification follows these stages:

1. Document capture. The user takes their physical passport to photograph or capture an image through a special KYC verification interface (it can be a Magic Link, a QR code, an app, or a third-party pop-up window/an automated redirect on the user’s device).
2. KYC data extraction. The system identifies the passport’s country of origin and relevant data zones, such as the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ), and, using OCR, extracts personal details (full name, DOB, nationality and passport number plus expiration date). 
3. Security element check. The verification system cross-checks the MRZ, comparing it with other KYC fields while checking all necessary security features, like the overall passport template or font, for signs of forgery or alteration. 

Often, special KYC software is used to speed up the whole process and is paired with other KYC checks, such as biometric verification, where the user’s facial features are also assessed and cross-matched with the portrait on their passport. Afterwards, the final verification result is provided to the user. 

Flagged or suspicious cases can be put into the manual queue, where a human analyst re-checks the KYC session, reviewing the submitted passport and selfie. Sometimes, it can be a false positive, which makes it beneficial to use a dual approach with a manual review on top instead of relying purely on automation. 

Examples of the Hardest Passports to Verify

Our team at iDenfy conducted in-house research on passports and their KYC approval rate, comparing how the software (automated approval rate) and the analyst team (manual approval rate) confirm passports from various countries around the world. iDenfy has both methods, and you can choose either only software or a mix of both with human reviews on top. 

A quick look into the research:

• We used internal passport verification data from Q3 2026 specifically.
• We analyzed completed verifications across 221 countries and territories.
• We included only countries with 50+ completed verification sessions to avoid jumping to conclusions when relying on small samples. 

The table shows the overall approval rate: the share of all passport verifications approved after automated checks and, where needed, manual review.

Key findings:

1. Passport verification doesn’t perform equally across the world.
2. The average KYC approval rate depends on the concrete solution and operating industry.
3. Lower passport approval rates can mean failed identity verifications, but effective fraud prevention is still required, which means lighter checks aren’t always the right approach in high-risk industries.

A KYC approval rate that’s considered to be appropriate in today’s standards ranges between 75% and 90%. For example, in e-commerce or an age-restricted shop where only a facial age estimation is required, and the friction for the end-user is minimal, the approval rates are higher, while financial industries that have multiple elements in their KYC onboarding flow have lower approval rates. 

Factors that Impact the KYC Approval Rate

The operating industry, concrete process and elements that go into an identity verification flow, as well as regulatory requirements and user behavior can impact the approval rate, either minimizing it or making it higher. 

IDV approval rate mainly depends on:

• The company’s risk appetite and the strictness of the ID verification process, which can lead to more denied sessions. 
• The accepted document types, as some passports or IDs are easier to read for the KYC systems, while rare/niche documents are harder. 
• Errors on the user’s side, either intentional or not, where the passport doesn’t fit into the frame, the selfie image is poor quality, or the session was abandoned. 
• Other fraud prevention solutions or custom rules that run in the background, like internal blocklists and detection of known fraudsters or banned users. 

In iGaming and gambling, the number is typically even lower because fraudulent attempts to forge or bypass KYC are more common, including other behavioral elements that are not accepted, such as creating multiple accounts and using duplicates for bonus abuse. 

What is the Difference Between a Machine-Readable Passport and a Biometric Passport?

A machine-readable passport is a type of passport that has an MRZ, allowing scanners and KYC systems to read this data printed and encrypted on the passport. In the meantime, a biometric passport has an embedded chip that stores biometric information through a digital facial image while also having an MRZ on top. It’s also known as an e-passport because it’s a convenient method used for traveling or in cases where you need to pass through e-gates. 

For example, since 2006, the EU has issued only biometric passports. Most MRZ-based passports are older passport generations that come from countries outside of the EU. Emergency passports also fit into this category. 

-> Our research found that Bulgaria has a lower automated KYC approval rate (82%) compared to other countries that use a similar passport format, such as Germany (93%) or Lithuania (97%), which also have EU-standard biometric passports. That’s because of the inconsistencies that sometimes come from Cyrillic and Latin characters. Like with keywords in adverse media, if the user enters their name Aleksandar, the system can read the name as Alexander or show false positives. 

Related: What is an NFC Tag?

How are KYC Approvals Calculated?

The IDV approval rate includes multiple elements that you need to assess, asking questions like:

-> Is the document valid? 

-> Do the passport details match?

-> Does the selfie match?

-> Is the person present?

-> Are there any signs of fraud? (for example, multi-accounting or a suspicious IP)

The KYC session can then be either approved or denied (alternatively, reviewed manually). The approval rate essentially shows how many completed verifications are approved. Divide the total number of approved verifications by the number of completed verifications, multiplying the result by 100. For example, if 850 out of 1,000 completed verifications are approved, the approval rate is 85%.

Most firms want high approval rates, which is only natural, because you want genuine users passing their KYC session on the first try, without any hassle. However, there should be a balance in the ultimate “fraud vs. friction” dilemma. Lighter checks aren’t always the option if you let bad actors access your services. In other words, you can juggle with loose fraud prevention methods and risk non-compliance with KYC requirements. 

Why Some Passports Have Higher Approval Rates

There are universal factors that explain why certain passports tend to have a higher KYC approval rate. For instance:

• Consistent layouts and an ICAO-compliant design 
• Readable MRZs and the NFC chip for biometric passports 
• Clear document data, including durable material, like a polycarbonate page 
• Good image quality without glare (less reflective laminate helps)
• Latin characters and local script that reduce transliteration mismatches 

The passport format and the captured data need to be easily authenticated and matched. For that, naturally, good KYC software is needed that is able to run the security assessment and validity checks properly and efficiently, without disrupting the end-user experience. 

How to Improve Identity Verification With iDenfy

Our research shows that the approach of a combined KYC method and using automations + manual reviews is beneficial, especially when dealing with more niche and non-standard documents that professional analysts are trained to verify accurately. They can change the final result, onboarding genuine users faster, all in real time, 24/7, without the risk of having a backlog. 

This document-level performance is the main point in KYC conversion, not just improving pass rates. A converted user at the initial registration stage means they are happy with the platform and will be more likely to spend their time and funds on services that can be trusted with a good U/X. For that, we have multiple KYC solutions to choose from, including document-based verification and non-doc-based checks using eIDs or facial biometrics only for age estimation. 

-> iDenfy’s KYC pricing is based on the pay-per-approved model, where failed, abandoned, or fraudulent verifications are free. 

Get a free iDenfy trial, or book a quick demo for more info.