Old NIC to New NIC Converter
Convert between old 9-digit (pre-2016) and new 12-digit Sri Lankan NIC formats. Also shows date of birth, age & gender. Private, in-browser processing.
Old Format
855420159V
→
converts to
New Format
198554200159
Date of Birth
22 June 1985
Age
41
Gender
Male
Voter Status
V (Voter)
Runs in your browser. Never stored.
How Old NIC to New NIC Conversion Works
Year expands from 2 to 4 digits.
The old format uses the last two digits of the birth year (e.g. 85 =
1985).
The new format uses all four digits (1985).
Day-of-year code stays the same. Both formats use a 3-digit number (001–366 for males, 501–866 for females) to encode the birthday and gender in a single field.
Serial gets a leading zero, letter becomes a digit.
The old 4-digit serial (e.g. 0159) becomes 5 digits
(00159).
The V/X voter suffix is replaced by a numeric check digit.
Worked Examples
Old Format
810509871V
↓
New Format
198105009871
Male, born 19 Feb 1981
Old Format
855420159V
↓
New Format
198554200159
Female, born 11 Feb 1985 (542 − 500 = day 42)
New Format
199906731234
↓
Old Format
990671234V
Female, born 22 Jun 1999 (567 − 500 = day 67? No — raw 067)
Old to New NIC — Frequently Asked Questions
Enter your old 9-digit NIC number (e.g. 855420159V) in the converter above. The tool prepends '19' to the 2-digit year, keeps the 3-digit day code, inserts a zero before the serial, and drops the V/X suffix to produce the new 12-digit number (e.g. 198554200159). The conversion runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to any server.
Yes. The old and new NIC numbers represent the same person. The Department for Registration of Persons (DRP) migrated all citizens to the 12-digit format in 2016. The encoded birth date, gender, and serial components are preserved — only the format changed.
The new 12-digit format has 5 serial digits instead of 4. When converting from old to new, a zero is inserted before the original 4-digit serial to pad it to 5 digits. For example, serial 0159 becomes 00159. The 12th digit is a mathematical check digit that replaces the old V/X suffix.
No. The old format used a trailing letter — V for voter, X for non-voter. The new 12-digit format replaced this with a numeric check digit. Voter registration status is no longer encoded in the NIC number itself.