International · Validation
Sri Lanka NIC number validator.
Check an old (911042754V) or new (12-digit) Sri Lankan NIC number and read the birth date and gender it encodes. Browser only. Format only.
How it works: birth year, then a day-of-year number (500 is added for women), then a serial and a check digit. The old form is 9 digits plus V or X, the new form is 12 digits.
Inputs
Result
Enter a number and press Check.
Old and new NIC layouts
| Format | Fields |
|---|---|
| Old (before 2016) | YY DDD SSS C + letter (V or X) |
| New (from 2016) | YYYY DDD SSSS C |
DDD is the day of the year; for women 500 is added. The numbering is commonly reported to count 29 February in every year, so in a non-leap year dates after February are one day earlier than a calendar count would give. The tool follows that convention and rejects day 60 in non-leap years.
Format only, not verification
The last digit is a check digit whose algorithm is not published, so it is not tested. A pass only shows the number is internally consistent; the Department for Registration of Persons issues and verifies NICs.
Confirm it with the issuer
To check that a number really exists, use the official service: Department for Registration of Persons (Sri Lanka). This page never contacts it and does not pass your number to it.
Sources
- Department for Registration of Persons
- Wikipedia, National identity card (Sri Lanka) (secondary; layout, +500 rule, old-to-new example)
The DRP site does not describe the number layout; the structure is from secondary sources (Wikipedia and validation libraries). The leap-day numbering is a reported convention. Format-only.
Frequently asked questions
How do I tell the birth date from a Sri Lankan NIC?
Take the birth year, then read the three-digit day number, subtracting 500 for women, and convert it to a date.
Old and new NIC: what changed?
Old NICs have nine digits and V or X. New NICs, issued from 2016, have 12 digits with a four-digit year.
Is the check digit verified?
No. No public algorithm exists for it.
Format only — not a registry lookup
This tool checks the number entirely in your browser. It does not query any government register and does not imply official verification. A matching pattern is not proof that the number was ever issued or belongs to anyone. An ID number is personal data: nothing you type is transmitted, stored or logged, but use a sample number where you can.