The characters in a driving licence number specify certain details about the owner, if any of this information conflicts with what has been entered into the application form the licence number will not be accepted.
You will need to check whether the driving licence contains any middle name(s) that have not been declared on the application. If it does, then this information needs to be included on the application form. The date of birth will also need to match correctly as this is included within the licence number, as is the gender of the licence holder. Please do not include the last two digits on the driving licence after the space. If the licence does not have a middle name declared but this name has been included in the first part of the application it will also show as an error; you will then need another form of ID as the licence does not support the current legal name details declared.
What do the letters and numbers mean?
Using this sample image you can see an explanation of the driving licence number format below.
MORGA – The first five letters of the surname. If a surname is less than five characters in length, the remaining spaces will comprise of the digit 9.
753116 – First and last numbers are the year of birth. The second and third numbers are the month of birth. (Note: in the case of female driving licence holders, ‘5’ is added to the second digit, this means that the second digit will be 5 or 6). The fourth and fifth numbers are the day of the month of your birth.
SM – The first initials of your forename and middle name. If you have only one initial then the second character will be a ‘9’. If you have more than one middle name the initials of these are not displayed.
9IJ – Computer check digits.
35 - Licence numbers (these vary on all licences).
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