Verify a French Identity Card : 5 Elements to Check

Verifying a person’s identity is necessary in many sectors to prevent fraud and identity theft.

The 1995 version of the French ID card remains today the most widespread and used document to prove identity: so how to verify a French identity card online and ensure the presented document is authentic? The answer is in this article!

The first step to verify an identity card when you have access to the original document is to examine its overall appearance: it must show no signs of cutting, peeling, modification, or any corrections.

Pay particular attention to the area at and around the photo.

Also check that the “RF” punches in the middle of the card edges are present.

The second step to verify a French identity card online is to check the consistency of the information on the document.

The card number can be found in two different places: at the top front of the card, and on the second line of the MRZ band.

Both must be identical:

The holder’s initials can be found at the top right of the photo:

The date of birth can also be found in two distinct places: in the middle of the front of the card, and at the end of the second MRZ line in the YYMMDD format:

Likewise for the last names and first names, which can be found on the card and in the first and second lines of the MRZ band:

At the end of the first line, there are 6 digits composed of:

– Before February 2017: the two digits of the issuing department + 1 digit related to the issuing service, followed by the agent’s post number on 3 digits.

– After February 2017: “0” followed by the two digits of the issuing department, followed by the agent’s post number on 3 digits.

In the illustration below, the card is visibly invalid because there is no “0” before the two digits of the issuing department, even though the card was issued after February 2017.

The two digits of the department from line 1 are found right after the card issuance date on the second line (without the “0” if the card was issued after February 2017).

Finally, the last element present three times on the card: the issuance date, which can be found on the back, in the card number, and in the second MRZ line in the YYMM format:

The third step to verify a French identity card online: the font!

Official documents use a specific font that is relatively easy to recognize (see examples above).

Here is an example of a wrong font:

The lower part of the French identity card is composed of two lines that repeat the information on the document, with validation keys that prevent reading errors or falsifications.

1. Document Type: 2 characters, code indicating the document type, represented by the letters “ID.”
2. Issuing Country: 3 characters, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code of the issuing country.
3. Last Name(s): holder’s last name(s), completed at the end by the “<” character.
4. Department + internal administration code: 6 characters at the end of the line.

1. Date of Card Issuance: 4 characters, year and month of issuance in the YYMM format.
2. Department: 2 characters, identical to the department in line 1.
3. Administrative Code: 6 characters, assigned by the management center in chronological order according to place of issuance and date of application.
4. Check Digit: 1 character, check digit for the start of line 2.
5. First Name(s): cardholder’s first name(s), followed by the second first name separated by two chevrons (“<<”).
6. Date of Birth: 4 characters, year and month of birth in the YYMM format.
7. Check Digit: 1 character, check digit for the date of birth.
8. Gender: 1 character, “M” for male, “F” for female.
9. Check Digit: 1 character, overall check digit.

A French identity card contains 5 check digits (or security keys) that validate the preceding information.

They help prevent transcription errors or intentional/unintentional modifications.

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

Digits have their own value (“0” is 0, “1” is 1, etc., up to “9” which is 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 as an example the check digit of the date of birth from the specimen above.

The character string to validate is: “200101”.

To calculate the check digit, proceed as follows:

– “2” has a value of 2 and is in first position, so multiply by 7: 2 * 7 = 14.

– “0” has a value of 0 and is in second position, multiply by 3: 0 * 3 = 0, add to previous 14 → 14.

– “0” has a value of 0 and is in third position, multiply by 1: 0 * 1 = 0, add to previous 14 → 14.

– 1 * 7 = 7 and add to 14 → 21

– 0 * 3 = 0 and add to 21 → 21

– 1 * 1 = 1 and add to 21 → 22

The total is 22; we take modulo 10 (the remainder of the division by 10), keeping only the last digit, which is “2”.

Our check digit is therefore valid because “2” appears on the document!

An identity document contains several elements that help validate its authenticity.

This is the final step to verify a French identity card online, as it is the longest one.

In the case of the 1995 version of the identity card, there are 6 elements in total, 4 of which can be checked with the naked eye.

A security thread stamped “République Française” is visible just above the signature on the front of the card. To see it, simply hold the card up to the light to make it visible.

A Marianne watermark is used on the front of the card, in the upper part:

A second watermark is used on the back of the card, in the lower part (“RF”):

As before, simply hold the card up to the light to see them.

Relatively easy to see and check, two golden “RF” stripes are present on the front of the card:

Guilloches are the small irregular wavy patterns seen on the card: this is not the most obvious element for online verification, but they should not show inconsistencies between each other in general.

Special attention should be paid to the guilloches present on the photo.

Some elements are visible only under ultraviolet light, but this requires specialized equipment (thus not suitable for online verification).

A fake card under ultraviolet light:

A genuine card under ultraviolet light:

You now have all the keys to verify a French identity card online 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 might encounter daily!

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