All about NRIC Number in Singapore.

Recently, I was working for a health research project . Then I encountered a situation where I had to validate the NRIC Number. It was something unusual for me to work with the NRIC number as I had no previous knowledge about it. I decided to make a small research on it. Lucky enough, after a couple of hours spent on internet search, I found some good resources, which revealed me the things I required.

What is NIRC Number?

NRIC is the abbreviated form for the National Registration Identity Card, which is the identity document in use in Singapore. It is compulsory for all Singaporean citizens and permanent residents who are fifteen years of age and older to have their NRICs. It is not compulsory for bearers to hold the card at all times, nor are they compelled by law to show their cards to police officers conducting regular screening while on patrol, for instance. But it is a required document for some government procedures, commercial transactions such as the opening of a bank account, or to gain entry to premises by surrendering or exchanging for an entry pass. Failure to produce the card may result in denied access to these premises or attainment of goods and services.

Structure Of NRIC Number

The NRIC number consists of total 9 characters in the pattern #0000000@, where

#

• This is a letter that can be “S”, “F”, “T” or “G” depending on the status of the holder.
• For Singapore citizens and permanent residents, this is the century prefix.
• The NRIC number for citizens and permanent residents born before the year 2000 is assigned the letter “S”. “S” is the 19th letter in the English Alphabet, denoting that the NRIC number was issued in the 20th century (1900-1999). It was commonly believed before 2000 that the “S” stands for Singapore, especially since the letter “F” was used for foreigners. It is unknown, however, if that was ever the intended meaning.
• Singapore citizens and permanent residents born in 2000 and beyond are assigned the letter “T”. “T” is the 20th letter in the English Alphabet, denoting that the NRIC number was issued in the 21st century (2000-2099)
• Foreigners holding employment or student passes issued before 2000 are assigned the letter “F”.
• Foreigners holding employment or student passes issued in and after 2000 are assigned the letter “G”.

0000000

• This is a 7 digit serial number assigned to the document holder
• For Singapore citizens and permanent residents born in 1968 and after, their NRIC number will start with their year of birth e.g. 71xxxxx#. For those born in 1967 and earlier, the NRIC number does not relate to year of birth, and commonly begins with 0 or 1. Non-native Singaporeans who were born before 1965 are assigned the heading numbers 2 or 3 upon conversion of permanent residency (PR) or citizenship.

@

• This is the checksum letter calculated based on # and 0000000.

How to Validate the NRIC Number?

The algorithm to calculate the checkdigit of the NRIC is not publicly available; as of 1999, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore only sold the algorithm to Singapore-based organizations demonstrating a” legitimate need” for it. Nevertheless, the simple mathematics involved in checking the validity of the NRIC number is summerized as mentioned below:

The Singapore NRIC number consists of SEVEN (7) digits with a UIN/FIN letter prepended and checksum letter appended. This checksum letter is calculated from the first SEVEN (7) digits using the MODULUS ELEVEN (11) method. This system is the most commonly used since it provides a high degree of security.

The steps involved in the computation are as follows:

1. Multiply each digit in the NRIC number by its weight i.e. 2 7 6 5 4 3 2 in order.
2. Add together the above products.
3. If the first letter i.e. UIN of the NRIC starts with T or G, add 4 to the total.
4. Find the remainder of (sum calculated above) mod 11.
5. If the IC starts with S or T: 0=J, 1=Z, 2=I, 3=H, 4=G, 5=F, 6=E, 7=D, 8=C, 9=B, 10=A
   If the IC starts with F or G: 0=X, 1=W, 2=U, 3=T, 4=R, 5=Q, 6=P, 7=N, 8=M, 9=L, 10=K

For example I want to test the NRIC number S1234567D.

Here the 7 digits are 1234567.

So the sum of  product of digits with weightage is, 1×2+2×7+3×6+4×5+5×4+6×3+7×2=106.

Now, 106 mod 11= 7

From the table above as listed in item 5 on the list above, 7=D (Since IC is S).