Document Numbers: What are they & where to find them [Drivers licence, birth certificate...]

What is a document number?

A document number is often used to identify and find a document regardless of its type. These are usually unique numbers, which are assigned contextually. Some examples where they are used:

• Passport
• Driver ID 
• ID Number
• Birth certificate
• Files
  
  

Thus, each document should be clearly assignable and forgeries can be detected easier. In many cases, outsiders have no way of changing the number. Sometimes it is not even disclosed. We break down the most common spots for document numbers and how you can manage them all with our free software, bitfarm-Archiv.

Where do i find the number on my document?

1. ID Card

In the United States, there is no requirement to register. In addition, there is no identification card. However, an American must be able to verify his or her identity in a variety of settings.

For example, if you want to board a plane on a domestic flight or apply for a job, you must produce an ID card with a photo. When opening a bank account (learn more about document management systems for banks), you must also show identification. Normally, a valid identification document in the United States is a driver's license. If you don't have a driver's license, your state's driver's license office can issue you an ID card.

Howeber, the number is commonly next to or below your name or date of birth. In a YYYY-MM-DD format or MM/DD/YY,  look for a number with 11 digits that contains your birthdate.

2. Drivers Licence

Because the United States lacks a real ID card, the driver's license with photo is frequently used as a replacement, and it may also be used as a state identity card for non-drivers if desired.

As a rule, the number is noted to the right of the photo of the holder. But even here there are exceptions in the layout, so that in some cases the number may be placed elsewhere.

3. Passport

Whether you have a card or only a book, if you have a US passport. Your travel document number may be found in the upper right-hand corner of the document. This number will be printed on the front side of the passport card. If you have a Passport Book, it will be on the second page, which contains your personal information.

However, a passport number is assigned to every country's passport, but some nations additionally assign a passport booklet number, which is a number on the biographical data page that matches to laser-etched perforations on each sheet of the visa pages. This is a possible anti-counterfeiting security feature that also implies that every single passport booklet is tallied and tracked even before printing, preventing the sale or abuse of valid blank passport booklets.

Where is the document number on a birth certificate?

When a child is born in a hospital in the United States, the birth certificate is the first identifying document acquired. The state and county in where the birth happens issue this birth certificate. As a result, the question naturally arises as to where the document number is on a birth certificate.

There are a variety of different layouts for birth certificates in the US. In most cases, however, the number consists of eleven digits. The first three digits show the region code, while the next two digits usually represent the year of birth. The last six digits are usually a unique serial number depending on the year of birth.

In most cases, the document number is located on the in the upper right corner. However, there are exceptions where the number can be displayed in the upper left corner.

Document Numbers within bitfarm-Archiv

Do you need a free software to manage all of your documents? Regardless if private or for work? Then we invite you to check out our open source document management system. Create custom tags for you files and find the desired document within a few seconds - Even with millions of files stored.

Our software assigns a unique document number, called "gdocid" to each document automatically. This prevents duplicates and helps finding the document within seconds. You can send the gdocid through E-Mail and don't need to attach the original file. When clicking on the number, our software automatically starts and opens op the desired document. We also invite you to check our software in action. Just watch the video below or contact us for a free live presentation.

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