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What is a Passport Verification API?
A Passport Verification API confirms that passport details submitted by an individual correspond to a genuine record held by the issuing authority, and returns the associated particulars.
How it works
In the Indian context, verification typically requires the passport file number and the applicant’s date of birth rather than the passport number alone. The API checks these against Passport Seva records and returns the application or issuance status along with holder details. Veriqos Technologies provides this through its passport verification API.
The file number requirement surprises businesses expecting to verify from the passport number printed on the document, and it is worth designing the collection step around, because asking a customer for a number they do not have to hand causes drop-off.
What it establishes
That a passport record exists matching the details provided, and its current status. For identity purposes this is a strong signal, because passport issuance involves substantial documentary verification at source.
What it does not establish
That the person presenting the passport is its holder, which requires a face match against the passport photograph. Nor does it validate a physical document’s security features — verification checks the record, not the booklet.
Where it is used
Address and identity verification where Aadhaar is unavailable or inappropriate, onboarding of non-resident customers, employment screening for roles requiring international travel, and as a secondary identity document in higher-value onboarding where a single check is judged insufficient.
A note on document choice
Passport is one of several officially valid documents for KYC in India. Businesses generally accept a range rather than mandating one, because insisting on a document a customer does not hold is a common and avoidable cause of abandoned onboarding.
Related terms: Address Proof Verification · KYC · Face Match · CKYC
Official source
Indian passports are issued by the Ministry of External Affairs through the Passport Seva programme. Application and status services are on the official Passport Seva website.
Passports expire, so check the expiry date returned by a passport verification API against the date of the transaction and ask for a current document when it has lapsed. Store each passport verification API result with the customer record so you can show what was verified, and re-run the passport verification API if a customer updates their document. Combining a passport verification API check with a face match confirms both the document and the person presenting it.
For travel, forex and remittance businesses, the check usually sits early in onboarding, before any money moves. Explain why it is needed, keep only the details your process requires, and restrict who can see them. If the source is briefly unavailable, let the customer continue other steps and retry the check later rather than ending the application.
Some customers hold more than one passport over time, so match on the current document rather than an old number saved from a previous visit. When a customer renews their passport, ask them to update it in their profile and re-run the check, so that your records always reflect a valid document. Clear prompts like this keep data accurate without adding friction.
Clear records also make it easy to answer customer questions about why a document was requested again.
Before launch, walk through the flow with a few test passports, including one that has expired and one entered with a small typing mistake. Seeing each outcome helps you write clear messages for travellers, decide which cases need a person to review them, and confirm that a customer who renews their passport can update it easily without having to start the whole application again from the beginning.
