Standards for machine-readable passports were compiled by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). These standards have been adapted worldwide.

Name standards help SEVIS users:

• Comply with the standards governing machine-readable passports.
• Convert foreign names into standardized formats.
• Get better results when searching for names in government systems.
• Improve the accuracy of name matching with other government systems.
• Prevent the unacceptable entry of characters found in some names.

SEVIS Name Fields

SEVIS name fields will be long enough to capture the full name. Use the information entered in the Machine-Readable Zone (MRZ) of a passport as a guide when entering names in SEVIS.

Field Names	Standards
Surname/Primary Name (80-character limit)	Surname or the primary identifier as shown in the MRZ of the passport Invalid entries: LNU Unknown Not Applicable None UNK and NA entries will require confirmation that this is the actual nonimmigrant’s name Required
Given Name (80-character limit)	Names not in the Surname/Primary name Secondary identifier in the MRZ Invalid entries: FNU Unknown Not Applicable None UNK and NA entries will require confirmation that this is the actual nonimmigrant’s name
Suffix	Drop-down list in SEVIS (no changes) Not in the MRZ
Preferred Name (180-character limit)	Pre-populated in SEVIS, if left blank Editable Allows entry in SEVIS of the name used by the school/sponsor, if different from the fields above. Examples: Susan Zhang, instead of, Yibin Zhang Helene Muller-Garcon, instead of, Hélène Müller-Garçon Comma and one space allowed before a suffix Period is allowed in suffix Allows alphabetical characters with the following diacritical marks: ¨, ^, `, ´, °, ¸
Passport Name (39-character limit)	Not pre-populated Surname/Primary Name written first followed by the Given Name without a comma May be truncated Should reflect the primary and secondary identifiers as written in the MRZ

SEVIS Name Standards Tied to Standards for Machine-readable Passport

Here are the SEVIS name standards:

• Upper- or lower-case
• Roman alphabet only
• No special characters
• No hyphens, apostrophes, or commas; except in the Preferred Name field
• One space between names

SEVIS names will be consistent with the standards in a passport’s MRZ, with a few exceptions.

Nonimmigrant names entered in SEVIS should match the name in the passport’s MRZ. The MRZ reflects the names entered in the Visual Inspection Zone (VIZ) of the biographic page. However, this is not always true.

1. Replace any letters with special characters with its SEVIS equivalent. The nonimmigrant’s country has determined how to transliterate any special characters. That transliteration is shown in the MRZ, if available. Refer to the Transliteration of Names if it is not.

2. Determine which parts of a nonimmigrant’s name belongs in which SEVIS name field. Use the MRZ as a guide to determine the order of the names. The nonimmigrant’s country has determined which parts of the name it considers to be the primary name.

Note: The MRZ is not always reliable. School and sponsor officials must use their discretion. 

Passport Machine Readable Zone	SEVP's preferred source for determining name order and transliteration of special characters in a name Might not be available Might not match what the nonimmigrants claim their names are
U.S. Visa	Another good guide Might not be available Might not match the MRZ Might not match what the nonimmigrants claim their names are
School/Sponsor Official Discretion	Use the best judgment or information available Names can be changed later to reflect the name on a passport or visa.

Understanding the Machine-readable Passport

The face page of a machine-readable passport has two parts:

• Visual Inspection Zone (VIZ)
• Machine-readable Zone (MRZ)

Passport names are broken down into two components used in the VIZ and the MRZ:

1. Primary identifier

2. Secondary identifier

Issuing countries determine how names are broken down into primary and secondary identifiers. The primary identifier may be the family name or include the entire name. Names not combined with the primary identifier may become part of the secondary identifier. Refer to figure below to determine how a name is shown in the MRZ.

The two sections of the page have different rules about the spelling of names.

Name Standards in the Visual Inspection Zone (VIZ)

The VIZ contains the passport holder’s:

• Biographic information
• Photograph
• Signature
• Information about the passport itself

National characters are allowed in the VIZ. Transliterations into Roman-based characters should be provided for any names not written in Roman-based characters.

Name Standards in the Machine-readable Zone (MRZ)

The MRZ follows strict rules that determine how passport information is shown. The country that issues the passport converts non-Roman characters into Roman characters. These changes are based on two items:

1. List of acceptable characters
2. Rules for the conversion of names

ICAO Doc 9303 describes this information. It was copied into the Transliteration of Names section of this article.

The following rules apply to the Name field in the MRZ:

• Prefixes and suffixes are omitted
• Numeric characters cannot be used
• Punctuation cannot be used:
  • Apostrophes are omitted; O’CONNOR becomes OCONNOR
  • Hyphens are replaced by a filler character; MARIE-THERESE becomes MARIE<THERESE

Names in the MRZ are shown on the first line and limited to 39 characters. As a result, a name might be truncated to fit.

Transliteration of Names

The following table is from ICAO Doc 9303. It is a guide used to convert names that have special characters not allowed in the MRZ. SEVP recommends using the same transliteration for names with the following exceptions:

• Ñ would be N or n not NXX
• Ü would be Ue or ue not UXX

Sequence Number	National Character	Description	MRZ Recommended  Transliteration
1	Á	A acute	A
2	À	A grave	A
3	Â	A circumflex	A
4	Ä	A diaeresis	AE
5	Ã	A tilde	A
6	Ă	A breve	A
7	Å	A Ring	AA
8	Ā	A macron	A
9	Ą	A ogonek	A
10	Ć	C acute	C
11	Ĉ	C circumflex	C
12	Č	C caron	C
13	Ċ	C dot accent	C
14	Ç	C cedilla	C
15	Ð	Eth	D
16	Ď	D caron	D
17	É	E acute	E
18	È	E grave	E
19	Ê	E circumflex	E
20	Ë	E diaeresis	E
21	Ě	E caron	E
22	Ė	E dot accent	E
23	Ē	E macron	E
24	Ę	E ogonek	E
25	Ĕ	E breve	E
26	Ĝ	G circumflex	G
27	Ğ	G breve	G
28	Ġ	G dot accent	G
29	Ģ	G cedilla	G
30	Ħ	H bar	H
31	Ĥ	H circumflex	H
32	ı	I without dot (Turkey)	I
33	Í	I acute	I
34	ì	I grave	I
35	î	I circumflex	I
36	ï	I diaeresis	I
37	Ĩ	I tilde	I
38	İ	I dot accent	I
39	Ī	I macron	I
40	Į	I ogonek	I
41	Ĭ	I breve	I
42	Ĵ	J circumflex	J
43	Ķ	K cedilla	K
44	Ł	L slash	L
45	Ĺ	L acute	L
46	Ľ	L caron	L
47	Ļ	L cedilla	L
48	Ŀ	L dot	L
49	Ń	N acute	N
50	Ñ	N tilde	N
51	Ň	N caron	N
52	Ņ	N cedilla	N
53	Ŋ	Eng	N
54	Ø	O slash	OE
55	Ó	O acute	O
56	Ò	O grave	O
57	Ô	O circumflex	O
58	Ö	O diaeresis	OE
59	Õ	O tilde	O
60	Ő	O double acute	O
61	Ō	O macron	O
62	Ŏ	O breve	O
63	Ŕ	R acute	R
64	Ř	R caron	R
65	Ŗ	R cedilla	R
66	Ś	S acute	S
67	Ŝ	S circumflex	S
68	Š	S caron	S
69	Ş	S cedilla	S
70	Ŧ	T bar	T
71	Ť	T caron	T
72	Ţ	T cedilla	T
73	Ú	U acute	U
74	Ù	U grave	U
75	Û	U circumflex	U
76	Ü	U diaeresis	UE
77	Ũ	U tilde	U
78	Ŭ	U breve	U
79	Ű	U double acute	U
80	Ů	U ring	U
81	Ū	U macron	U
82	Ų	U ogonek	U
83	Ŵ	W circumflex	W
84	Ý	Y acute	Y
85	Ŷ	Y circumflex	Y
86	Ÿ	Y diaeresis	Y
87	Ź	Z acute	Z
88	Ž	Z caron	Z
89	Ż	Z dot	Z
90	Þ	Thorn (Iceland)	TH
91	Æ	Ligature A E	AE
92	IJ	Ligature IJ	IJ
93	Œ	Ligature OE	OE
94	ß	Double s (Germany)	SS

The following examples are not real. They are for a made-up country named Utopia. Utopia is shown as P<UTO in the first five characters of the MRZ.

The examples show how names in the MRZ should be placed correctly into SEVIS.

Example

1	Name	Anna Maria Eriksson
	VIZ:	ERIKSSON, ANNA MARIA
	MRZ:	P<UTOERIKSSON<<ANNA<MARIA<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
	SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Eriksson First Name: Anna Maria Preferred Name: Anna Maria Eriksson Passport Name: Eriksson Anna Maria

2	Name	Susie Margaret Smith-Jones
	VIZ:	SMITH-JONES, SUSIE MARGARET
	MRZ:	P<UTOSMITH<JONES<<SUSIE<MARGARET<<<<<<<<<<<<
	SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Smith Jones Given Name: Susie Margaret Preferred Name: Susie Margaret Smith-Jones Passport Name: Smith Jones Susie Margaret

3	Name	DEBORAH HENG MING LO
	VIZ:	HENG, DEBORAH MING LO
	MRZ:	P<UTOHENG<<DEBORAH<MING<LO<<<<<<<<<<<<
	SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Heng Given Name: Deborah Ming Lo Preferred Name: Deborah Heng Ming Lo Passport Name: Heng Deborah Ming Lo

4	Name	ENYA SIOBHAN O’CONNOR
	VIZ:	O’CONNOR, ENYA SIOBHAN
	MRZ:	P<UTOOCONNOR<<ENYA<SIOBHAN<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
	SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: OConnor Given Name: Enya Siobahn Preferred Name: Enya Siobhan O’Connor Passport Name: OConnor Enya Siobhan

5	Name	Martin Van Der Muellen
	VIZ:	VAN DER MUELLEN, MARTIN
	MRZ:	P<UTOVAN<DER<MUELLEN<<MARTIN<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
	SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Van Der Muellen Given Name: Martin Preferred Name: Martin Van der Muellen Passport Name: Van Der Muellen Martin

6	Name	Arkfreith (Single names must be entered in the Surname field, regardless of whether they are listed as given or family names in the passport VIZ.)
	VIZ:	ARKFREITH
	MRZ:	P<UTOARKFREITH<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
	SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Arkfreith Given Name: Preferred Name: Arkfreith Passport Name: Arkfreith

7	Name	Nilavadhanananda Chayapa Dejthamrong Krasuang
	VIZ:	NILAVADHANANANDA, CHAYAPA DEJTHAMRONG KRASUANG
	MRZ:	P<UTONILAVADHANANANDA<<CHAYAPA<DEJTHAMRONG<K
	SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Nilavadhanananda Given Name: Chayapa Dejthamrong Krasuang Preferred Name: Chayapa Nilavadhanananda Passport Name: Nilavadhanananda Chayapa Dejthamrong K

8	Name	Sam MMA Smith
	VIZ:	SMITH, SAM MMA
	MRZ:	P<UTOSMITH<<SAM<MMA<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
	SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Smith Given Name: Sam MMA Preferred Name: Sam Smith Passport Name: Smith Sam MMA

9	Name	Hsiu-Chiao Fan
	VIZ:	FAN, HSIU-CHIAO ALSO KNOWN AS: SALLY FAN
	MRZ:	P<TWNFAN<<HSIU<CHIAO<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
	SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Fan Given Name: Hsiu Chiao Preferred Name: Sally Fan or Hsiu-Chiao Fan Passport Name: Fan Hsiu Chiao

Not all passports comply with MRZ standards. Some are missing an MRZ altogether. The following examples offer guidance on how to handle those types of passports.

Note: School/sponsor officials always can make the final decision when entering names. 

Missing Passport MRZ

Name	Fatima Haidari (Name as written on school application)
VIZ:	FATIMA HAIDARI D/O MIR AHMAD (Note: d/o = daughter of)
MRZ:	No MRZ available
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Haidari Given Name: Fatima Preferred Name: Fatima Haidari Passport Name:

Name	Fardeen Osmany (Name as written on school application)
VIZ:	FARDIN S/O ABDULLAH (Note: s/o = son of)
MRZ:	No MRZ available
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Abdullah Given Name: Fardin Preferred Name: Fardin Osmany Passport Name:

In this case, the nonimmigrant explained that his given name is spelled either “Fardeen” or “Fardin.” Osmany is his surname. Abdullah is his father. There is no U.S. visa or passport MRZ to follow as a guide. In this case, use what is in the passport VIZ until you see a government document that shows something different. The name can be changed in SEVIS later.

SEVIS Name Order for Burma (Myanmar), India and Kuwait

Passports from Burma (Myanmar), India, and Kuwait list names in given to surname order in both the VIZ and MRZ. Follow the student’s request if:

• You have information from the student on the correct order of his/her name.
• The student’s information is backed up by a U.S. visa.

Note: Even if a U.S. visa is not available, but the name follows the pattern above, it is probably safe to use that format. If you need to change the name in SEVIS later, you can do that.

Burma (Myanmar)

Name	Chan Myae Wathon
VIZ:	CHAN MYAE WATHON
MRZ:	PVMMRCHAN<MYAE<WATHON<<<<<<
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Wathon Given Name: Chan Myae Preferred Name: Chan Myae Wathon Passport Name: Chan Myae Wathon

India

Name	Kumar Vivek (All appearing under given name. Nonimmigrant and U.S. visa indicate Kumar is given name and Vivek is surname.)
VIZ:	KUMAR VIVEK
MRZ:	P<IND<<KUMAR<VIVEK<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Vivek Given Name: Kumar Preferred Name: Kumar Vivek Passport Name: Kumar Vivek

Name	Sapna Gupta (All appearing under given name. Nonimmigrant and U.S. Visa indicate Sapna is given name and Gupta is surname.)
VIZ:	SAPNA GUPTA
MRZ:	P<IND<<SAPNA<GUPTA<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Gupta Given Name: Sapna Preferred Name: Sapna Gupta Passport Name: Sapna Gupta

Kuwait

Name	Abdullah A I S Alibraheem (All appearing under given name. Nonimmigrant indicated Abdullah A I S are given and middle names and Alibraheem is surname.)
VIZ:	ABDULLAH A I S ALIBRAHEEM
MRZ:	P<KWTABDULLAH<A<I<S<ALIBRAHEEM<<<<<
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Alibraheem Given Name: Abdullah A I S Preferred Name: Abdullah A I S Alibraheem Passport Name: Abdullah A I S Alibraheem

Unclear Name Order

Some countries have a scrambled name order in passport VIZs and MRZs. They may list names in a different order from what we expect, but are relatively consistent in the order shown below.

Democratic Republic of Congo

In a passport's VIZ and MRZ, Congolese names seem relatively consistently ordered. In the VIZ, they appear: 

1. Nom/ Surname
2. Postnom/ Postname
3. Prenoms/ Given Names

The Postnom on a Congolese passport is a middle name.

Name	Hercule Siloka Kapalagonya (Nonimmigrant indicated Hercule is given name, Siloka is middle name, and Kapalagonya is surname.)
VIZ:	KAPALAGONYA, SILOKA, HERCULE
MRZ:	POCODKAPALAGONYA<<HERCULE<SILOKA<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: KAPALAGONYA Given Name: Hercule Siloka Preferred Name: Hercule Siloka Kapalagonya Passport Name: Hercule Siloka Kapalagonya

Malaysia

In a passport’s VIZ and MRZ, Malaysian names seem relatively consistently ordered: 

1.Given name

2.Surname

3.Middle name (usually two, if Chinese).

The U.S. Consulate correctly identified the surname and given names in the visa. However, a few cases have surfaced where the names in the MRZ do not follow the above pattern. For Malaysian names, it seems safe to follow the nonimmigrants’ recommendations for the name order. Check that the passport and U.S. visa agree with the example:

Name	Benjamin Hien Pin Lo (All appearing under given name. Nonimmigrant indicated Benjamin Hien Pin is given (and middle) name and Lo is surname.)
VIZ:	BENJAMIN LO HIEN PIN
MRZ:	P<MYSBENJAMIN<LO<HIEN<PIN<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Lo Given Name: Benjamin Hien Pin Preferred Name: Benjamin Hein Pin Lo Passport Name: Benjamin Lo Hien Pin

 

Sudan

There are different naming conventions used by the Sudanese people. For formal and administrative purposes, they may use the Arabic naming conventions.

That is:

1. Given name
2. Father’s first name
3. Grandfather’s first name

Name	Abdul-Aziz Bilal (Nonimmigrant indicated Abdul-Aziz is given (and middle) name. Bilal is his father’s name and Hussain is his grandfather’s name.) This naming convention does not involve a surname. All the names are given names and appear on one “Full Name” line in the Sudanese passport.
VIZ:	ABDUL-AZIZ BILAL HUSSAIN
MRZ:	PBSDNABDUL
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Hussain Given Name: Abdul Aziz Bilal Preferred Name: Abdul-Aziz Bilal Passport Name: Abdul-Aziz Bilal

For more details on Sudanese naming conventions, see the North Sudanese Culture article under the Naming section on the Cultural Atlas website.

Vietnam

In a passport’s VIZ and MRZ, Vietnamese names seem to be consistently ordered:

1.Surname

2.Middle name

3.Given name

However, the U.S. visa shows the name in the correct order. For Vietnamese names, it seems safe to follow the nonimmigrants’ recommendations for the name order. Check that the passport and U.S. visa agree with the example: 

Name	Hang Thu Ngo (All appearing under given name. Nonimmigrant indicated given name is Hang Thu and the surname is Ngo.)
VIZ:	NGO THU HANG
MRZ:	P<VNMNGO<<THU<HANG<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
SEVIS:	*Surname/Primary Name: Ngo Given Name: Hang Thu Preferred Name: Hang Thu Ngo Passport Name: Ngo Thu Hang