How to find out the series and number of your driver’s license - where to look at the old and new license + photos with examples

How else can you find out the series and document number?

The official traffic police portal does not support the service of issuing serial data of a driver's license only by last name. Such information is considered confidential and cannot be disclosed just like that. However, it is still possible to obtain details of your rights by last name. To do this, you will have to personally visit the nearest traffic police department and write a statement asking for the series and number.

Within 2 weeks, traffic police officers undertake to collect reference data and send them to the address specified in the application. They can also be collected in person from the same police station. The procedure is completely free, but takes time (usually it is used when a document is lost). The application does not have to be submitted in person; you can send the completed form by registered mail. Another way to obtain details is to contact the insurance company where the MTPL policy was issued. You will have to contact the insurer's branch in person and submit a request. The certificate will be issued faster than at the traffic police.

Is it possible to get information without an ID?

There are times when a car owner urgently needs information from his driver’s license, but this document is not at hand, it is lost or completely stolen. How then in this case to find out the necessary information?

You have several options, but first let’s say that you won’t be able to find information about the series and number of the driver’s license through the traffic police website by last name. On this portal, the search system is programmed to search for information only by document series and number. So you can go the following ways:

1. Contact any stationary traffic police post and ask to find your driver’s license in the database using your last name.
2. Contact your insurance company, where you have an insurance policy, and ask them for the necessary information (series and number).

Where can I find the details?

Nowadays, finding the number of an old driver's license has become much easier. If you need to find out the number of an old driver's license, you can choose any of the methods below. As a rule, people give preference to the one that is more accessible to them at one time or another. It is worth remembering that employers do not transfer information about personnel to third parties. Therefore, only the employee himself can find out information about his driver’s license from them. So, here are ways to find out the old document number:

• Search for the required column in the driver’s card issued at the driving school after completion of training;
• Access to the government services website. If information about a previously issued license was recorded in your personal account, it should have been preserved;
• Viewing a car insurance policy that was issued using old documents or contacting the insurance company for the necessary information;
• Visiting the traffic police department where the document was issued;
• Advance photocopying of the old VU;
• Contacting the employer if your work activity is related to vehicles and your work experience in the organization corresponds to the time when you had your first driver’s license;
• Viewing old protocols on administrative violations;
• Visit an online service created on the basis of the State Traffic Inspectorate.

What does the UI look like, mandatory data

The new driver's license is a plastic card measuring 8.56 by 5.4 centimeters. It has the shape of a rectangle with rounded corners, not a bright blue-pink color.

On one side the photo and personal information of the owner are displayed . In addition, there is information regarding the right to drive a vehicle granted to him.

On the opposite side are the categories and pictures with explanations for them . The terms of their validity are prescribed, and space is also provided for recording possible restrictions.

In addition to the above, the document in 2021 must contain the following mandatory data:

1. Last name, first name and patronymic of the owner.
2. Place of birth and date.
3. Information about the certificate.
4. Date of issue.
5. The date the action ends.
6. The name and four-digit digital code of the authority that issued the card.
7. The series and number are indicated twice.
8. The next item is the photograph that is located to the left.
9. Under the photo is the personal signature of the owner. To avoid misunderstandings, it is necessary to put a signature so that it is identical to the one in the passport.
10. Region of permanent residence of the owner.
11. Permission to drive a vehicle of a certain category.

All inscriptions are written in Russian and duplicated in Latin letters . There is a barcode on the back side. It is used for automatic verification. Its dimensions are 1.0 by 4.2 centimeters.

There is also a table of all possible categories and subcategories of vehicles. The date of issue of rights is indicated next to the permitted categories, and the expiration date of their validity is indicated on the right side.

Even further to the right are notes about possible restrictions. For example, in category B1, the letters AS indicate that driving is only permitted with a car-type steering wheel.

Unlike the old model of driver's license, the new form is slightly shortened.

Modern technologies have made it possible to equip plastic licenses with a high degree of protection against counterfeiting. The material from which they are made has the properties of long-term moisture resistance and fire resistance, to some extent.

In addition, the document provides the following special means:

1. The barcode makes it possible to read basic information about the driver and determine the validity of the card using a special scanner.
2. Outline microtext about the authority that grants the right to drive a motor vehicle.
3. The title of the document is printed in directive microtext.
4. A color-variable element that changes its color in different positions of the document.
5. The series and number of the document are applied in a luminescent way, due to which the numbers, when viewed under ultraviolet radiation, become orange.

Decoding categories and subcategories

Since 2014, the reverse side of the document has been changed:

• new categories and subcategories of driver's licenses have been added;
• A mark has been introduced indicating that vehicles with an automatic transmission can only be driven.

Today there are 16 categories of driver's licenses. The expanded line strictly limits the admission to driving of one or another category of transport equipment.

A breakdown of the categories and subcategories of transport is presented in the table:

As you can see from the table, the designation E in the subcategory indicates that the driver must have the skills to drive a vehicle towing a heavy trailer whose weight exceeds 750 kg. If the categories open to you ( B , C , C1 , D , D1 ) do not have the prefix E , you can also transport trailers, but lighter ones (within 750 kg).

In the new classification, the category M . Permission to drive a moped opens automatically if the driver already has a driver's license. If this is the first category that opens for you, in order to fully drive a moped you will have to undergo training at a driving school and pass exams at the traffic police.

For example, a driver who has categories A and B, when replacing his license with a new one, will receive a license with additional subcategories A1 , B1 , and in addition category M (see sample).

All open categories and subcategories are marked on the back of the ID and duplicated on the front.

Questions and answers

Knowing what a driver's license number looks like, all issues can be resolved easily and simply. If previously the series included letter designations, today both the number and the series are indicated only in a digital sequence of ten characters. The series is the first four of them, separated from the rest of the group by a “space”, and the first two digits, also separated by a space, must match the code (number) of the region in which the document was issued. The remaining six digits indicate the ID number.

The series and number must be indicated on each side of the plastic. But if you look only at the front side of the document, you most likely will not be able to immediately determine where the series and number are on the driver’s license.

This data is located in the fifth paragraph and is printed in black, like all other information. The numbers do not stand out at all from the general background, which can cause difficulties if you don’t know where to look. But on the back of the card they are located in the lower part on the right, printed in a slightly larger font and in bright red paint. Here, no one should have questions about where the series and number of the driver’s license is located.

The front side of the ID contains a photograph of the owner and personal information:

• his name, surname and patronymic;
• date and place of birth;
• location;
• date of issue and expiration of the document.

Where is the driver's license number written? It is located both on the front and back of the document, where it is located:

• barcode with information about the owner;
• permitted categories and subcategories, their validity periods.

The document number is applied using a luminescent composition. On the reverse side, the series and number of the driver's license are printed in large numbers under the list of permitted categories and subcategories of transport.

If the driver's license is wanted or its owner has been deprived of the right to drive a vehicle, this will become known. The owner's last name, first name and patronymic are not displayed, as this would be a violation of the confidentiality of personal information.

How to find out your driver's license number by last name? The most reliable way is to submit a written request to the state traffic inspectorate. But you will have to wait several days for an answer.

You will receive information faster through the State Traffic Inspectorate website by email. To do this you need:

• Go to the traffic police website.
• Select “Reception of requests” in the side menu “Online services of the traffic police”, which is located on the right.

• Click the button “Proceed to fill out the application form” at the bottom of the page.
• Fill out a short application form, enter the numbers shown in the picture and submit.
• Provide your email address.

It is also impossible to find a driver’s license number by last name on the website of the Russian Union of Automobile Insurers (RUA). But you can check whether your driving license is valid. To do this, you need to go to the site page and follow a simple algorithm of actions:

• Fill out the fields of the form, indicating the series and number of your driver's license.

• Confirm that the action is performed by a person and not a computer.
• Click the “Search” button below.

If the system accepts the entered information and begins to process it, the driver's license is in the database.

To perform some legally significant actions, you will need to provide the details of your driver’s license:

1. When replacing a license in person at the MFC or a department of the State Traffic Inspectorate, including cases of loss, theft, natural wear and tear, accompanied by a decrease in the readability of the document, as well as after expiration and change of the motorist’s personal data. Details are indicated in the application requesting replacement in the form established by Appendix 2 of Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 995.
2. When filling out an electronic application for a replacement through the Unified Portal “State” requires entering the serial data of the document.
3. Upon receipt of comprehensive information regarding current administrative sanctions in the traffic police system, as well as their remote repayment.
4. When performing legally significant actions, when a driver’s license acts as an identification document of the applicant.

1. Through the Unified Portal “State Services”. This option is only possible if the driver’s license data was entered into the user’s profile in advance, for example, when performing legally significant transactions or at the filling out stage. The VU data is posted in the user’s personal account.
2. In an electronic or paper copy of the agreement with the insurance company that issued the MTPL. If you do not have a copy of the document, you can make an official request to the insurance company.
3. By personal contact to the nearest traffic police department. To do this, you must provide an identification document and write an application requesting the details of your driver's license.
4. In the traffic police database in cases where the motorist had administrative offenses, as well as in the protocol on the administrative offense. Information can be clarified when checking current or paid fines.

Thus, it is quite simple to find out the series and number of the certificate - it is always a ten-digit number indicated on the front and back sides of the certificate. If you do not have the document on hand, the data can be clarified at the territorial traffic police office, in an agreement with the insurer, or at Gosuslugi.

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How to find out the number of a new or old driver's license

Motorists know that a driver's license is valid for 10 years. To obtain them you will need to pass an exam at a driving school. There are no compelling reasons for replacing the ID before the due date - with the exception of changing your last name or passport. In this regard, drivers whose first license has not yet expired will not know what the new type of driver's license looks like.

At first they looked like a paper book, then they were replaced with small cards. The dimensions and information on the document were often changed to bring it closer to a modern and appropriate appearance.

Therefore, car enthusiasts are often interested in the appearance of the document, as well as where the series and number of the document are located. They get confused when they need to find their driver's license number due to frequent changes.

What information is included in the traffic police database by license number and series?

By entering the number and series of the driver's license in the online service of the traffic police database provided for Internet users, you can find out the following information:

• who owns the rights;
• validity period of rights;
• what category(ies) is open to the driver;
• driver's place of birth and date;
• the place where the certificate was issued;
• whether the driver has any fines for road trips;
• authenticity of driver's license and more.

This check can be performed by going to the traffic police website, selecting your region and following the following links:

1. The Services tab in the main Menu contains the required item – “Driver Verification”.
2. On the page that opens, you need to fill in all active lines, including entering the series and VU number in the required field.
3. Write your email address in the appropriate field, where the response will be sent later.
4. Then you should enter a verification code (it checks whether a robot is operating on the site), the so-called “captcha”.
5. The last step is to click the “Check Driver’s License” button.

Note! If you need free legal advice to reinstate, replace or obtain a driver's license (or other license-related issues), then you can also use the websites of various legal consultants.

A free consultation may include finding reliable information about the series and number of the VU.

How to find out by last name

On the official website of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, it is impossible to check a driver’s license using the driver’s last name alone. This is considered confidential information, which the government agency is unlikely to violate.

But this can be done on any other site that has a legal connection to the traffic police database.

If you do not want to find out the series and number of the driver’s license via the Internet, then go to the nearest territorial traffic police department. There you will submit an application to provide such information.

Within 2 weeks, the reference information will be written out to you in paper form, sent to the address you specified in the application, or you can pick up the certificate yourself. This service is free of charge at the traffic police.

A request can also be submitted to the traffic police through regular mail by sending a registered letter, the envelope of which must contain an application. The application form can be downloaded from the traffic police website, printed and filled out yourself.

If there is no time to wait for a response from the traffic police, then you can use paid online services located on intermediary sites.

Typically, such sites are given access to traffic police databases, so they can provide the service faster. You just need to submit an application on such a site and indicate that you want to know only the series and number of your driver’s license.

Belonging to such and such a person (indicate his full name). Then the method of delivery of reference information, contact details are indicated and payment for interactive services is made.

Note! Most often, sites that provide information on driver's licenses - for example, find out the series and number by last name - are sites of insurance companies.

Therefore, contact the insurers from whom you purchased the MTPL policy, make inquiries, and you will receive a certificate much faster in time.

A national Russian driver's license is now presented in the form of a plastic card of the same size as the old type of driver's license, covered with a laminate, was previously.

The series and number are located at number 5 in the list of information written on the front side of the document. But on the reverse side, the series and number are repeated in exactly the same font, size of numbers and color (red).

You can find the series and number on the reverse side at the bottom right side, under the table with vehicle categories.

How to return your driver's license early after deprivation is described in the article: deprivation of a driver's license.

How much it costs to restore a driver's license, see the page.

Find out about illegal confiscation of a driver's license from this information.