Citizens and non-citizens of Latvia will be allowed to change their personal code – but only once in their lifetime, the Ministry of the Interior of Latvia informed bb.lv.
All residents of Latvia who are registered in the Population Register will be assigned an individual personal code starting with the digit "3" and not containing the date of birth.
And So No One Will Guess
Currently, the personal codes of Latvians contain their date of birth: the first six digits of the code represent the day, month, and year they were born.
This can supposedly be considered age discrimination – many hide their age from employers, banks, partners, and in other life situations where they want to appear younger than they actually are. As a result, the authorities have devised a new personal code that is not tied to the date of birth, consisting of eleven digits, ensuring its uniqueness:
- the first digit of the personal code will always be "3",
- the second digit will be a randomly generated digit from "2" to "9" by the system,
- the remaining digits will be randomly generated digits from "0" to "9" by the system.
Such a personal code is immutable, except in cases of adoption.
Change My Number
Starting from July 1, 2017, every resident of Latvia has the right to personally change their personal code once to one that does not contain their date of birth. The old personal code that contains the date of birth can be changed at any time in a person's life by submitting an application in person at any territorial division of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs or at a representation of the Republic of Latvia abroad. Changing the personal code is free of charge.
Choosing a combination of digits for the personal code is not possible, and after changing the personal code, the individual will no longer be able to change their mind and restore the previous personal code, as it is automatically generated only once in the Population Register.
