Chile ID Scanning: How to Capture Data from Passports, ID Cards, and Driver’s Licenses

Chile has one of Latin America’s most developed digital markets. According to recent data, the digital economy accounts for approximately 22% of the country’s GDP. As banks, telecom operators, retailers, mobility platforms, and other businesses move KYC and onboarding into mobile applications and websites, document-based data capture must be fast, convenient, and secure. In this environment, a reliable ID scanning solution helps companies create smoother customer journeys, reduce operational workload, and support regulatory compliance. In this blog post, we take a closer look at the documents businesses encounter in Chile and the capabilities of an effective Chile ID OCR.

Chilean Identity Documents: Passports, ID Cards, and Driver’s Licenses

Chile’s identity document landscape is changing. New passports and national ID cards entered circulation on December 16, 2024, while previously issued documents remain valid until their expiry dates. The country also completed the gradual nationwide rollout of its digital driver’s license in September 2025. As a result, companies may receive several generations and formats of Chilean documents within the same KYC workflow.

• The current Chilean ID card can be presented both as a physical document and a digital version. The Chilean government’s introduction of the new documents highlighted 32 security elements, as well as features designed to improve accessibility. The physical card also includes an electronic chip and QR code. Importantly, the RUN (unique identification number) and the individual card number are separate fields, which makes correct field classification more difficult for ID OCR solutions.
• The latest Chilean passport is an electronic travel document with 48 pages, an embedded chip, and an MRZ on the data page. Its design includes 70 security elements and visual references to different regions of Chile. Older burgundy biometric passports may still be presented, so passport scanning must accommodate both generations without requiring the customer to select a document version manually.
• Driver’s licenses add another layer of variation. They are issued through municipal traffic departments and contain information such as the holder’s name, RUT (unique tax identification number), photograph, address, issuing municipality, license class, restrictions, issue date, and expiry date – all of these fields must be accurately scanned. And an advanced driver’s licence OCR solution is the perfect way to handle this. 

The main requirements relevant to Chile ID OCR can be summarized as follows:

Document	Distinctive data and features	ID scanning requirement
Chilean ID card	RUN/RUT with a check digit, separate card number, two-sided layout, chip, and QR code	Correctly separate similar identifiers and combine data from both sides
Chilean passport	Visual data page, MRZ, and several document generations	Capture visual and machine-readable data across old and new layouts
Chilean driver’s license	RUT, issuing municipality, license class, and restrictions	Extract document-specific fields and support different capture formats

For businesses in Chile, reliable ID scanning is therefore about more than reading Spanish text. The system must distinguish between fields with different meanings, retain punctuation and check digits, combine data from multiple document sides, and handle credentials issued under different systems. 

How OCR Studio Scans Chilean Documents

OCR Studio’s ID Scanning SDK captures structured data from passports, national ID cards, driver’s licenses, and other government-issued documents. It can be integrated into mobile, desktop, server, and web applications, allowing companies to use the same technology across assisted and self-service customer journeys.

For companies operating in Chile, the solution provides the following capabilities:

• Stable capture in real-world conditions. ID scanning remains effective when images contain blur, glare, shadows, perspective distortion, low resolution, or an unexpected document angle. 
• MRZ scanning and NFC chip reading. The SDK scans machine-readable zones in Chilean passports and other compatible travel documents. For supported electronic documents, the solution can access the NFC chip and extract stored personal details and the holder’s digital photograph.
• Fully on-device deployment, including browsers. Scanning runs locally on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. Server OCR SDK makes ID scanning available on the company’s on-premises servers. The WebAssembly technology brings the same approach directly into browsers – with no document images or personal data sent to external parties.
• Broad document coverage and multiscript ID OCR. The SDK supports more than 4,000 document templates and over 100 languages. Its multiscript capabilities cover Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew, and Asian writing systems, which is especially relevant for businesses serving international customers.

Companies can test the speed and quality of Chilean ID scanning in the Web Demo. It runs directly in the browser and requires no installation or registration.

What Automated ID Scanning Gives Businesses in Chile

For Chilean businesses, the practical benefits include:

• No manual entry and errors. Automated field capture reduces repetitive work and prevents mistakes caused by mistyped document numbers, dates, names, or license details.
• Zero data exposure. With 100% local ID scanning, sensitive information stays on the user’s device or within the company’s own infrastructure.
• Faster customer journeys and stronger conversion. Mobile OCR SDK enables customers to scan a document with their phone camera and continue through onboarding within seconds. Fewer fields to complete and fewer corrections mean less abandonment, particularly on mobile devices.
• Consistent data across business systems. Structured output can be passed to KYC platforms, CRM systems, booking tools, telecom workflows, or internal databases without rebuilding a separate capture flow for each document type.

Finally, broad template and language coverage allows a business to serve Chilean document holders and visitors from other countries through one SDK.

Learn more about OCR Studio’s ID scanning solution

FAQ

What Chilean documents can OCR Studio’s solution scan?

OCR Studio supports Chilean passports, ID cards, and driver’s licenses. It captures printed fields and also works with machine-readable elements such as MRZ, QR codes, barcodes, and compatible electronic chips.

Can ID OCR handle both older and newer Chilean documents?

Yes. Earlier documents remain valid until they expire, so businesses may encounter several designs during the transition. OCR Studio uses document-specific templates to extract data from supported generations and return it in a consistent structure.

Can the ID scanner capture a Chilean RUN or RUT?

Yes. The ID OCR solution captures the complete value as it appears on the document, and keeps it separate from the card’s individual document number.

Does the solution support MRZ scanning and NFC chip reading?

Yes. OCR Studio scans the MRZ in Chilean passports and other compatible travel documents. Its NFC chip reading capabilities help extract the stored personal details and digital photographs.

Can Chilean documents be scanned directly in a browser?

Yes. OCR Studio’s Web OCR SDK enables fully on-device ID scanning in desktop and mobile browsers. The document stays on the device, while the captured fields can be passed into the company’s web-based onboarding or KYC workflow.