Driver License Formats

United States

US DL information was obtained from the National Traffic Safety Institute

The Date of Birth (DOB) format on US driver licenses is MM/DD/YYYY or MM-DD-YYYY.

Alabama

1-8 Numeric

Alaska

1-7 Numeric

Arizona

1 Alpha + 8 Numeric

9 Numeric

Arkansas

4-9 Numeric

California

1 Alpha + 7 Numeric

Colorado

9 Numeric

1 Alpha + 3-6 Numeric

2 Alpha + 2-5 Numeric

Connecticut

9 Numeric

Delaware

1-7 Numeric

District of Columbia

7 Numeric

9 Numeric

Florida

1 Alpha + 12 Numeric

Georgia

7-9 Numeric

Hawaii

1 Alpha + 8 Numeric

9 Numeric

Idaho

2 Alpha + 6 Numeric + 1 Alpha

9 Numeric

Illinois

1 Alpha + 11-12 Numeric

Indiana

1 Alpha + 9 Numeric

9-10 Numeric

Iowa

9 Numeric

3 Numeric + 2 Alpha + 4 Numeric

Kansas

1 Alpha + 1 Numeric + 1 Alpha + 1 Numeric + 1 Alpha

1 Alpha + 8Numeric

9 Numeric

Kentucky

1 Alpha + 8 Numeric

1 Alpha + 9 Numeric

9 Numeric

Louisiana

1-9 Numeric

Maine

7 Numeric

7 Numeric + 1 Alpha

8 Numeric

Maryland

1 Alpha + 12 Numeric

Massachusetts

1 Alpha + 8 Numeric

9 Numeric

Michigan

1 Alpha + 10 Numeric

1 Alpha + 12 Numeric

Minnesota

1 Alpha + 12 Numeric

Mississippi

9 Numeric

Missouri

3 Numeric + 1 Alpha + 6 Numeric

1 Alpha + 5-9 Numeric

1 Alpha + 6 Numeric + R

8 Numeric + 2 Alpha

9 Numeric + 1 Alpha

9 Numeric

Montana

1 Alpha + 8 Numeric

9 Numeric

13-14 Numeric

Nebraska

1 Alpha + 6-8 Numeric

Nevada

9-10 Numeric

12 Numeric

X + 8 Numeric

New Hampshire

3 Alpha + 8 Numeric

2 Numeric + 3 Alpha + 5 Numeric

New Jersey

1 Alpha + 14 Numeric

New Mexico

8-9 Numeric

New York

1 Alpha + 7 Numeric

1 Alpha + 18 Numeric

8-9 Numeric

16 Numeric

8 Alpha

North Carolina

1-12 Numeric

North Dakota

3 Alpha + 6 Numeric

9 Numeric

Ohio

1 Alpha + 4-8 Numeric

2 Alpha + 3-7 Numeric

8 Numeric

Oklahoma

1 Alpha + 9 Numeric

9 Numeric

Oregon

1-9 Numeric

Pennsylvania

8 Numeric

Rhode Island

7 Numeric

1 Alpha + 6 Numeric

South Carolina

5-11 Numeric

South Dakota

6-10 Numeric

12 Numeric

Tennessee

7-9 Numeric

Texas

7-8 Numeric

Utah

4-10 Numeric

Vermont

8 Numeric

7 Numeric + A

Virginia

1 Alpha + 8-11 Numeric

9 Numeric

Washington

1-7 Alpha + any combination of Alpha/Numeric for a total of 12 characters

West Virginia

7 Numeric

1-2 Alpha + 5-6 Numeric

Wisconsin

1 Alpha + 13 Numeric

Wyoming

9-10 Numeric

Canada

Canadian DL information was obtained from the US DOT Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

The Date of Birth (DOB) format for Canadian driver licenses is YYYY-MM-DD

Information from FMCSA -

"U.S. law enforcement officials can determine if a Canadian or Mexican commercial driver is prohibited from operating in the U.S. by querying the license status on the FMCSA Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) website at cdlis.dot.gov or by using the “CL” destination query in the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS)."

"Importance of Accuracy when Issuing Citations - To ensure a citation issued to a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver from Mexico or Canada is included in their driver’s license history, U.S. law enforcement must accurately record the driver’s first and last name, date of birth, licensing jurisdiction and commercial driver’s license number (DLN) following the appropriate jurisdictional licensing scheme listed in this brochure.   U.S. law enforcement citations issued to drivers from Mexico or Canada that result in a conviction found in the 49 CFR Part 383.51 tables are added to the driver’s history in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Foreign Convictions and Withdrawals Database, but only if the correct license format is recorded. These convictions can result in drivers being prohibited from operating in the U.S."

Alberta

Six digits, a hyphen, three digits

Five to nine digits

British Columbia

Seven digits

Manitoba

Two letters, optional hyphen, two letters, optional hyphen, two letters, optional hyphen, one letter, three digits, two letters

New Brunswick

Five to seven digits

Newfoundland/Labrador

One letter, nine digits

Nova Scotia

Five letters, optional hyphen, one digit; any of 0, 1, 2 or 3, one digit, one digit zero or one, six digits

Ontario

One letter, four digits, optional hyphen, five digits, one digit, one digit; any of 0, 1, 5, or 6, one digit, one digit; any of 0, 1, 2 or 3, one digit

Prince Edward Island

Five to six digits

Quebec

One letter, twelve digits

Saskatchewan

Eight digits

Yukon Territory

Six digits

Mexico

Mexican DL information was obtained from the US DOT Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

The Date of Birth (DOB) on Mexican licenses is within CURP field as YYMMDD.

Information from FMCSA -

"U.S. law enforcement officials can determine if a Canadian or Mexican commercial driver is prohibited from operating in the U.S. by querying the license status on the FMCSA Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) website at cdlis.dot.gov or by using the “CL” destination query in the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS)."

"Importance of Accuracy when Issuing Citations - To ensure a citation issued to a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver from Mexico or Canada is included in their driver’s license history, U.S. law enforcement must accurately record the driver’s first and last name, date of birth, licensing jurisdiction and commercial driver’s license number (DLN) following the appropriate jurisdictional licensing scheme listed in this brochure.   U.S. law enforcement citations issued to drivers from Mexico or Canada that result in a conviction found in the 49 CFR Part 383.51 tables are added to the driver’s history in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Foreign Convictions and Withdrawals Database, but only if the correct license format is recorded. These convictions can result in drivers being prohibited from operating in the U.S."

Federal Digital License

Per FMCSA, the Federal Digital License, or Licencia Federal Digital (LFD) is issued universally in place of plastic licenses as of April 1, 2021.

The Federal Digital License format is LFD followed by 8 digits.

Mexican States

The state driver license format is the state prefix followed by 5-7 digits.

Aguascalientes - AGS

Baja California - BCN

Baja California Sur - BCS

Campeche - CAMP

Chiapas - CHIS

Chihuahua - CHIH

Coahuila - COAH

Colima - COL

Distrito Federal - DF

Durango - DGO

Estado De Mexico - EDOM

Guanajuato - GTO

Guerrero - GRO

Hidalgo - HGO

Jalisco - JAL

Michoacán - MICH

Morelos - MOR

Nayarit - NAY

Nuevo León - NVOL

Oaxaca - OAX

Puebla - PUE

Querétaro - QRO

Quintana Roo - QROO

San Luis Potosí - SLP

Sinaloa - SIN

Sonora - SON

Tabasco - TAB

Tamaulipas - TAMP

Tlaxcala - TLAX

Veracruz - VER

Yucatán - YUC

Zacatecas - ZAC