On October 21, China News Service reported an update from the China Railway Group regarding concerns raised by netizens about the lengthy verification process for foreign passports on the 12306 ticketing platform. The group explained that, according to the National Immigration Administration’s recent notice on enforcing real-name registration for foreign passengers using domestic transport, the 12306 system must accurately collect and register various information from foreign passport holders, including names, nationalities, types of documents, document numbers, and birth dates. This process also includes an additional verification step specifically for foreign passports.
The complexity of names in foreign passports often leads to inaccuracies in the provided information, resulting in lower success rates for automatic verification within the 12306 system. As a consequence, a significant amount of verification must be done manually, typically taking between three to five business days.
In response to these concerns, railway authorities are prioritizing improvements in the collection and online verification of foreign passport information. They are implementing intelligent recognition technology to enhance the registration and verification processes on the 12306 website, which should reduce online verification waiting times. Additionally, they are collaborating with the National Immigration Administration to study and enhance the success rates of asynchronous online verification for foreign passports, with efforts for technical development being expedited.
