AAMVA DL/ID Barcode Versions 1–10 Explained

The header

Every AAMVA barcode starts with a compliance indicator and the word ANSI, then a six-digit issuer identification number, the AAMVA version, the jurisdiction version, and the number of subfiles.

Extracting It Automatically

When you read this data from photos, the Driver License PDF417 OCR API returns it as structured JSON, and you can apply the rules on this page as validation. Try it with the free scanner.

Where This Fits

• Subfiles: A directory lists subfiles such as DL (license), ID (identification card), and jurisdiction-specific Z subfiles, with their offsets and lengths.
• Why versions matter: Field names, name layout, and truncation indicators changed across versions, and cards stay in circulation for years, so a parser sees many versions at once.

Extract It with the API

Read the document from a photo and validate the returned fields.

Prerequisite: Python 3.9+, `pip install requests`, and a STRUCTOCR_API_KEY

import base64
import os
import requests

with open("license-back.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
    image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("ascii")

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.structocr.com/v1/driver-license-pdf417",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
    json={"img": image},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()["data"]
print("document_kind:", data.get("document_kind"))
print("document_number:", data.get("document_number"))
print("date_of_birth:", data.get("date_of_birth"))
print("region:", data.get("region"))

Reference Summary

Key facts from this page in structured form, for quick lookup.

{
  "The header": "Every AAMVA barcode starts with a compliance indicator and the word ANSI, then a six-digit issuer identification number, the AAMVA version, the jurisdiction version, and the number of subfiles..",
  "Subfiles": "A directory lists subfiles such as DL (license), ID (identification card), and jurisdiction-specific Z subfiles, with their offsets and lengths..",
  "Why versions matter": "Field names, name layout, and truncation indicators changed across versions, and cards stay in circulation for years, so a parser sees many versions at once.."
}