Automate Hotel Guest Check-ins with Make.com and Passport OCR

For boutique hotels, Airbnb hosts, and short-term rental managers, collecting and verifying guest IDs is often the biggest bottleneck in the check-in process. Manual transcription is slow, prone to errors, and creates friction for guests arriving after a long flight.

By combining Make.com (formerly Integromat) with the Passport OCR API, you can build a fully automated, frictionless ID verification workflow in under 15 minutes — no coding required.

In this tutorial, we will build a Make.com scenario that:

1. Receives an uploaded passport image from an online form (like Typeform or a Google Form).
2. Sends the image to Passport OCR for data extraction.
3. Automatically logs the guest's name, nationality, and document details directly into a Google Sheet or Property Management System (PMS).

Step 1: Set up the Application Trigger

We need a starting point. Your guests need a way to submit their passport photo securely before arrival.

1. Go to your Make.com dashboard and click Create a new scenario.
2. Add a new module and select an app that will receive the file. We'll use Typeform for this example, picking the Watch Responses trigger.
3. Connect your Typeform account and select a form you've created that includes a "File Upload" block (for the passport photo).

(Note: You can swap Typeform with Google Forms, Jotform, or a simple Webhook trigger if you use a custom pre-arrival web page.)

Step 2: Download the File

Typeform sends the file URL, but the Passport OCR API expects the actual file binary.

1. Add a new module immediately after Typeform.
2. Select HTTP -> Get a file.
3. In the URL field, map the file upload URL provided by your Typeform trigger.
4. Important (If using Typeform): Because Typeform file URLs are protected, click "Show advanced settings" and check "Follow redirects" and provide authentication headers if necessary to access that file URL. Usually, a simple GET request will retrieve the file content.

Step 3: Connect Passport OCR

Now we have the image file, and we need to extract the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ).

1. Add a new module and select HTTP -> Make a request.
2. Configure it exactly like this:
   • URL: https://passport-ocr.com/v1/ocr
   • Method: POST
   • Body type: Multipart/form-data
3. Under the Fields section, add one item:
   • Field type: File
   • Key: image
   • File: Select the file output from the previous step (the "Get a file" module).
4. (Optional): Add an Authorization header with Bearer YOUR_API_KEY if you are on a paid Passport OCR plan. For testing, the free tier processes the first 10 requests without a key.
5. Check Parse response so Make.com converts the JSON output into usable variables.

Step 4: Map Data to Your PMS or Spreadsheet

When the Passport OCR module successfully executes, it returns a parsed JSON payload, splitting out fields like firstName, lastName, and documentNumber.

Let's route this into a Google Sheet.

1. Add a final module: Google Sheets -> Add a Row.
2. Connect your Google account and select a spreadsheet named "Guest Register".
3. Map the fields from the HTTP response directly into your spreadsheet columns.
   • Make.com will present the HTTP response under Data -> data -> firstName, etc.
   • Drop firstName into the "First Name" column, documentNumber into the "Passport Number" column, and so on.

Step 5: Test and Deploy

Click the Run once button entirely at the bottom left of your scenario. Fill out your Typeform with a test passport image.

Watch the bubbles turn green! You should see the HTTP module fire the file off to the API and within a second, a new pristine, accurately typed row will appear in your Google Sheet.

Turn the scenario on, and you now have a fully scalable, enterprise-grade automated check-in register running silently in the background.

Beyond the Basics

Once the core workflow is running, you can easily expand it to:

• Send a confirmation via SMS/Twilio: Text the guest "Thank you, [First Name]! Your check-in is complete."
• Validate Expiry Dates: Add a Make.com "Router" to check if expirationDate is in the past, and automatically flag the reservation for manual front-desk review.
• Airtable Integration: Sync the data seamlessly into an Airtable base serving as your lightweight CRM.

Get started for free today by exploring the Passport OCR API documentation.