Verify a French Driver’s License

The new French biometric driver’s license came into effect in 2013, replacing the aging three-part pink paper driver’s license.

This plastic card in ID-1 format (credit card size) features high-level security elements (MRZ band as well as other security features), which help better combat fraud and enable real-time information access.

Is it possible to perform a “manual” verification of these different elements to ensure the authenticity of a biometric driver’s license? The answer is in this article!

The French biometric driver’s license is a secured and modernized version of the traditional driver’s license.

Introduced starting in 2013, this document gradually replaces the old paper driver’s licenses.

The main features of the biometric license are:

• The biometric driver’s license is a plastic credit card-sized card (54 x 86 mm), much more durable than the old paper licenses.
• Since 07/15/2015, it no longer contains a chip, source: permisdeconduire.ants.gouv.fr.

• The card has several security features (holograms, microprinting, etc.) that make it more difficult to forge.

• This license complies with European standards and enables harmonization among EU countries. This facilitates information exchange and mutual recognition of licenses between member states.

• Unlike the old unlimited validity license, the biometric driver’s license has a validity limited to 15 years (5 years for professional categories). After this period, it must be renewed but does not require a new exam.

• Information is also stored in digital form in a centralized database, facilitating controls and updates.

• The biometric driver’s license includes an MRZ band (Machine Readable Zone), which is automatically read during identity or border checks. This band contains encoded information about the holder and their license.

• Fight fraud thanks to secure features.
• Facilitate controls by police and authorities through the introduction of the MRZ band.

In summary, the French biometric driver’s license is a more secure document, standardized at the European level, designed to combat fraud while facilitating administrative and police checks.

In France, the driver’s license is not officially considered an identity document in the strict sense, unlike the national identity card (CNI) or the passport. However, it is often accepted as proof of identity in many everyday situations, notably for administrative or banking procedures. This is because it contains key information about the holder (name, first name, photo, etc.).

• Accepted in some contexts: The driver’s license is often accepted as proof of identity in unofficial contexts, such as opening a bank account or renting goods.
• Rejected in some official procedures: For some official procedures, such as voting or crossing borders, only official identity documents like the national identity card or passport are valid.

Source: Service-Public.fr

The MRZ band of a French biometric driver’s license consists of one line of 30 characters.

It contains the following elements:

1. Document Type: 2 characters, code indicating the document type, represented by the letters “D1”.
2. Issuing Country: 3 characters, the ISO code of the issuing country, for France it is “FRA”.
3. Document Number: 9 characters starting with the license issuance year (13 = 2013 in the example above).
4. Check Digit: 1 character, the check digit of the document number.
5. Expiration Date: 6 characters, the document expiration date in YYMMDD format (181231 = 31/12/2018).
6. Holder’s Last Name: 8 characters completed with chevrons “<” at the end if needed.
7. Overall Check Digit: check digit of the entire MRZ band.

A biometric driver’s license includes 2 check digits (or security keys) that validate the preceding information.

They help prevent transcription errors or modifications, intentional or not.

The algorithm used to create and validate the check digits is common to all identity documents: characters have a weight multiplied by a factor depending on their position in the string (7, 3, and 1).

Numbers have their value (“0” = 0, “1” = 1, etc. up to “9” = 9), the chevron “<” also has a value of 0, while letters start at 10 for “A”, 11 for “B” up to 35 for “Z”.

Let’s take a simple example to illustrate the algorithm’s operation, the document’s expiration date (we won’t do the exercise with the real keys as it’s too long).

The string to validate is: “181231”.

To calculate the check digit, we proceed as follows:

– “1” has a weight of 1 and is in the first position, so multiply by 7: 1 * 7 = 7

– “8” has a weight of 5 and is in the second position, so multiply by 3: 8 * 3 = 24, add the previous 7: 24 + 7 = 31.

– “1” has a weight of 1 and is in the third position, so multiply by 1: 1 * 1 = 1, add to previous 31: 1 + 31 = 32.

– 2 * 7 = 14 and 14 + 32 = 46

– 3 * 3 = 9 and 9 + 46 = 57

– 1 * 1 = 1 and 1 + 57 = 58

We obtain a total of 58, from which we extract modulo 10 (the remainder of the division by 10), which keeps only the last digit, i.e. “8”.

The check digit would thus be valid if equal to 8 on the document!

You now have all the keys to verify a French biometric driver’s license online from its MRZ band and ensure it is authentic!

No specialized equipment is needed: a bit of vigilance and time will help you avoid most of the frauds you may encounter daily!

You can also use our service which performs verifications in seconds through our web application: results are available directly in the app and as a PDF report!