US Driver License OCR with Python SDK

Reading United States Driver Licenses

State name, licence number, class, restrictions and address placement vary across issuing jurisdictions. Manual transcription adds delays and creates avoidable formatting errors when a team needs to move licence data into onboarding, rental or mobility systems.

A Server-Side Python SDK Workflow

The StructOCR driver license endpoint accepts a Base64-encoded image or PDF and returns normalized fields that are visible on the document. Typical results include the document number, holder name, dates, issuing region, address and vehicle class; optional fields may be null when they are absent or unreadable.

Common Integration Scenarios

• Vehicle rental: Pre-fill customer and licence details before a vehicle handover.
• Driver onboarding: Move visible licence fields into a review queue without retyping the card.
• Fleet operations: Capture licence classes and validity dates for internal driver records.

US Driver License OCR with Python SDK

The official Python SDK reads a supported local file and calls /v1/driver-license. Open the FastAPI tab for a server route using the same SDK method.

Prerequisite: `pip install structocr`; set the server-side `STRUCTOCR_API_KEY` environment variable.

Prefer another stack? Open the Node.js SDK + Express integration.

import os
from structocr import StructOCR

client = StructOCR(os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"])
result = client.scan_driver_license("driver-license.jpg")

if result.get("success"):
    data = result["data"]
    print(data.get("document_number"))
    print(data.get("given_names"), data.get("surname"))
else:
    print(result.get("error"))

JSON Response Example

Fields are returned when present and legible on the submitted licence; country-specific details may appear in extra_details.

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "type": "drivers_license",
    "country_code": "USA",
    "region": "California",
    "document_number": "D1234567",
    "personal_number": null,
    "surname": "DOE",
    "given_names": "JANE",
    "sex": "F",
    "date_of_birth": "1990-04-18",
    "place_of_birth": null,
    "date_of_issue": "2024-06-14",
    "date_of_expiry": "2029-04-18",
    "date_of_first_issue": null,
    "issuing_authority": "CALIFORNIA DMV",
    "address": "123 MARKET ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105",
    "vehicle_class": "C",
    "extra_details": {
      "card_security_number": "01234567890"
    }
  }
}