Persons subject to registration

1. Persons described from 1 to 6 below are not subject to registration and therefore not eligible.
2. A person holding a visa or an endorsement under the Immigration and Emigration Act No 20 of 1948 
3. A person who is relieved from the enforcement of an order/orders made under the Section 2(1) of the Immigration and Emigration Act No 20 of 1948
4. A person who has received a permit of residence under the Act for Implementation of Indo-Lanka pact No 4 of 1967
5.  A person who has entered is entering violating the provisions of Section 10 of Immigration and Emigration Act before or on or after April 5.1971
6. A person residing in Sri Lanka violating the section 15 of Immigration and Emigration Act
7. A person subject to be taken to India from Sri Lanka Section 15 of the Act for Implementation of Indo-Lanka Pact No 14 of 1967

All those who do not belong to any of the above categories and residing in Sri Lanka or entering Sri Lanka on or after April 05.1971 and complete 15 years of age, are subject to registration.

Time period, eligibility and the age to make applications for registration

1. Those who enter Sri Lanka on or after April 05.1971 and subject to registration should apply within six months.
2. Those who are not subject to registration under Section 2 (2) of the Act, and become subject to registration thereafter should apply within six months from the date they become subject to registration.
3. Those who complete 15 years of age after February 27. 1981 and become subject to registration should apply within one year after completing 15 years of age.

Documents required for first-timer identity card  

1. Application in the form පු.ලි.දෙ/වි 1,7,8 with photocopies of following documents certfied by Grama Niladhari and/or Divisional Secretariat or an officer authorized by him. (These documents should be able to prove the name and date of birth of the applicant)
2. Birth certificate or the extract of birth certificate Or
3. Probable age certificate with a document to prove the date of birth. ( birth certificate of a child/ school leaving certificate/ certificate of leaving the estate/ copy of the testified horoscope/ marriage certificate/ citizenship certificate/ original of the affidavit )
4. citizenship certificate ( link )

Document to prove the date of birth to applicants over 40 years of age who do not possess the birth certificate or probable age certificate

1. Results of search registers issued by the Additional District Registrar
2. A written evidence to prove the name and date of birth. (Birth certificate of a child/ school leaving certificate/ certificate of leaving the estate/ copy of the testified horoscope/ marriage certificate/ senior citizens identity card)
3. Original of formal affidavit to prove the name, date of birth and place of birth (link the form) 

Documents to prove employmentPublic sector - original of the service certificate obtained during the last six months.

1. Privet sector - original of the service certificate obtained during the last six months.
2. Degree certificate and the professional certificate for the positions of doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants and architects.
3. Retirement letter/ Pension card to include retired position.
4. Business registration certificate for business persons.

Other document required to issue identity cards

1. Samanera certificate or Upasampada certificate for a Buddhist priest
2. A certificate issued by the relevant Department to prove the clergyship of other religions.
3. Certificate of renouncement of clergyship (de-robing) from the relevant Department
4. Marriage certificate to include the surname of the husband. 
5. Citizenship certificate issued by Department of Immigration and Emigration to prove that the applicant has obtained Sri Lankan citizenship in the case of a person born abroad to a Sri Lankan mother or father. (Link ) 
6. Dual citizenship certificate, if the applicant holds dual citizenship
7. 3 colour photographs of 1 3/8” x 7/8” with sky blue background.
8. Rs. 3.00 stamp fee.
9. Form ……………… filled by those who failed to apply for registration during the prescribed time period (Link) indicating the reasons for delay, certified by Grama Niladhari and the District Secretariat.
10. Certification of the application
    1. Grama Niladhari ( Countersigning by District Secretariat is compulsory )
    2. For students, the principal of the school.
    3. For estate residents, the superintendent of the estate.
    4. For special needs persons, certifying officers authorized by the Commissioner General.

Handing over the completed applications for identity cards

1. Ordinary Service :

To the certifying officer

2. One Day Service :

To the One Day Service Branch of the Department for Registration of Persons, Colombo.

 NB: It any of those who obtain duplicates for lost identity cards later find or recover the lost identity card, they should immediately submit such identity cards to the Commissioner General

Documents required to issue a lost in place of a detected identity card  
When duplicated are issued for the identity cards issued after September,01,2014 it is not necessary to submit the birth certificate again whit the existing identity card of there is no change in the information on the birth certificate.  However if the applicant needs to enter his employment in the identity card, documents to testify the employment should be submitted. Citizenship certificate, dual citizenship certificate, clergyship certificate, certificate of reclining of clergyship (de-robing), marriage certificate ect Should be submitted as relevant.

When applications for duplicate of identity cards issued before September 01, 2014 are made following documents should be submitted.

පු.ලි.දෙ/වි 1,7,8 application form along with the photocopies of following documents certified by Grama Niladhari and/or Divisional Secretary or an officer authorized by him (Copies of certificates should be able to prove the name and the date of birth of the applicant)

1. Existing identity card or Birth certificate or the birth extract
2. Probable birth certificate with a document to prove the date of birth (Birth certificate of a child/ school leaving certificate/ certificate of leaving estate/ copy of a testified horoscope/ marriage certificate/ citizenship certificate/ affidavit )
3. citizenship certificate ( link )

Documents to prove the date of birth of applicants over 40 years of age who do not possess the birth certificate or probable age certificate

1. Results of search of registers issued by the Additional District Registrar
2. A written evidence to prove the name and date of birth. (Birth certificate of a child/ school leaving certificate/ certificate of leaving the estate/ copy of a testified horoscope/ marriage certificate/ senior citizens identity card)
3. Original of formal affidavit to prove the name, date of birth and place of birth (link the form) 

Documents to prove employment

1. Public sector -original of the service certificate obtained during the last six months.
2. Private sector - original of the service certificate obtained during the last six months.
3. Degree certificate and the professional certificate for the positions of doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants and architects.
4. Retirement letter/ Pension card to include retired position.
5. Business registration certificate for business persons.

Other documents required to issue identity cards

1. Samanera certificate or Upasampada certificate for a Buddhist priest
2. A certificate issued by the relevant department to prove the clergyship of other religions.
3. Certificate of reclining of clergyship (de-robing) from the relevant department
4. Marriage certificate to include the surname of the husband.
5. Citizenship certificate issued by the Department of Immigration and Emigration to prove that the applicant has obtained Sri Lankan citizenship in the case of the person born abroad to a Sri Lankan mother and father. (Link ) 
6. Original of the dual citizenship certificate or copy of the certificate certified by Divisional Secretary if the applicant holds dual citizenship
7. 3 colour photographs of 1 3/8 x 7/8 with sky blue background.
8. Rs. 3.00 stamp fee.
9. Form ……………… filled by those who failed to apply for registration during the prescribed time period (Link) indicating the reasons for such delay, certified by Grama Niladhari and the Divisional Secretary.
10. Certification of the application
11. Grama Niladhari ( Countersigning by Divisional Secretariat is compulsory )

Special Notification
For information regarding photograph specifications to be used from 01/09/2017 , please click > (New Photograph Standards)

One day service commenced on 01.09.2003 with a view to providing an efficient service at your urgent needs. In order to obtain an identity card as a first-timer or obtain a duplicate identity card you have to submit an application in the form පු.ලි.දෙ/වි/ 1.7.8 certified by the Grama Niladhari and countersigned by the Divisional Secretary, for school children the form certified by the Principal of the school and for estate residents, the form certified by the Superintendent of the Estate.

An administrative charge of Rs. 1000.00 is levied for this service. Applications are accepted between 8.00 am and 12.00 ​noon from Monday through Friday (Working days). Identity cards are issued till about 4.15 pm. In order to provide this service efficiently the one day service was located on 02.04.2013 in an air-conditioned building in the Department premises. Through this service about 1000 identity Cards are being issued per day. If the application is submitted as early as possible in the morning you will be able to obtain the identity card early.

It is compulsory that the applicant personally hands over the application for one day service. But in the case of special needs persons (with physical/ mental disabilities/ aged) the identity card can be handed over to the mother, father, spouse, siblings or legal caretaker provided the fact of disability is supported by a letter from Grama Nildhari or Divisional Secretariat.

N.B: Your identity card will get delayed due to the ineligibility of the application, un-clearness of information given in the application, incompatibility of the information with departmental records or the need for investigation in order to get the accuracy of information in the application testified. It is therefore, necessary that the applications are correctly filled and submitted.