Guidelines to a valid ID

Commissioner General of Registration of Persons A.G.Dharmadasa says that if an identity card with deficiencies is submitted to the Department within two months from the date of issue of the card these can be corrected based on the application already submitted without tendering other documents.

Issuing instructions pertaining to what is a valid National Identity Card the Commissioner General states that the National Identity Card is the basic document that is available in this country for authentication of identity of a person.

It is considered necessary that everybody is knowledgeable about the correctness of the information available in the National Identity Card.

You yourself can verify the correctness of the following information provided in the identity card. Identity card number, Date of issue, Name of the holder, Date of birth, Place of birth and Address.

The identity card number is formed based on the date of birth of the cardholder. It is indicated right above the photograph. In the identity card number the first two digits represents the year of birth and the next three digits represents the date and the month of birth. In the numbers given for males these three digits consists of a number from 001 to 366 while the number given to females consists of a number from 501 to 866.

For example, for a person born on 06.06.1988, if that person is a male, the first five digits of his identity card number will be 88158 while, for a female that number will be 88658. The balance four digits are numbers given by the Department.

The date on which the identity card issued will appear at the lower left corner of the card below the photograph. The name, date of birth and the place of birth of the cardholder as given in the birth certificate is indicated on the back of the identity card. The address of the cardholder at the time the card is obtained is indicated there as residence.

In the photograph in the identity card only the person’s left ear should be visible.

If the identity card in your possession is not a one with correct information as indicated above, you will have to get it corrected. If the identity card number and the name is not correctly indicated it is essential that it is get corrected.

If an identity card with such deficiencies is submitted to the Department within two months from the date of issue of the card that can be corrected based on the application that has already been submitted and without submitting any other documents.

To make any corrections after two months from the date of issue, it is necessary to submit an application for corrections through the Grama Niladari/Estate Superintendent as relevant. It would be easier to get any errors in identity card corrected if you can check the card for the correctness as soon as you receive it.