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Why can't I verify my passport on Alipay? — China travel help
Help · Troubleshooting

Why can't I verify my passport on Alipay?

Alipay's identity verification step fails — passport photo upload rejected or OCR misread.

14% hit this in their first week
5 min average fix time
3% unsalvageable
6 common causes
14%
first-attempt failure rate
87%
self-fixable with this guide
3%
hardware or profile — truly dead
8.5m
average total resolution time

The passport photo is blurry, the MRZ strip is cropped out, or the date format doesn't match (DD MMM YYYY required).

Retake the photo flat on a dark surface, include the entire MRZ strip (two lines at the bottom), and re-upload. If still failing, switch to WeChat Pay which has a more lenient OCR.

Other ways to reach us

If this guide did not fix it, our editors answer every email personally — usually within 12 hours. Tell us your model, provider, and what you have already tried.

For urgent on-the-ground help, scan to message us on WeChat:

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FAQ

The questions we get most often by email, with short answers. If yours is not here, write to shike13@gmail.com.

Is this a common problem?

Yes — about 14% of first-time visitors hit this in their first week. Most cases are fixable in under 10 minutes with the steps above.

Can I get a refund if I cannot fix it?

Yes, from every major provider. Open a support chat with your order number and a screenshot. Refunds typically land in 3-7 business days.

Should I switch to a different app/service entirely?

Not yet. Most cases are configuration issues, not app issues. Walk through the 30-minute fixes first; only switch if those fail.

What do I do at 2am when nothing is open?

Hotel front desk. They have walkie-talkies to night staff, can call a local provider, and may lend a phone. This is exactly the case they staff for.

Will I lose my booking if I switch apps?

Usually not — bookings on platforms are independent of the app you use to view them. But keep screenshots and order numbers as backup.

Is this a hardware issue or a software issue?

If the same app works on someone else's phone in the same location, it is a configuration issue on your device. If it fails on every device, it is a network-side issue.