Persona logoPersona Help Center
ArticlesCommunityAcademyDeveloper DocsSystem Status
Menu icon

Articles

Getting started
Solutions
Inquiries
Verifications
Introduction
Features
FAQ
Services and types
Checks and configurations
Results and statuses
Accounts
Transactions
Reports
Cases
Workflows
Graph
Marketplace and 3rd-Party Integrations
Other Platform Products
Admin
For end users

Get help now

Submit a request
Verifications
FAQ
Checks and configurations

Difference between Document Number and Identification Number?

⚠️ This question came from a member of the Persona Community - a senior engineering manager at a life insurance company. It is useful for those working with the Gov ID verification and two of it’s fields.

Question

What is the difference between the fields of Identification Number v/s Document Number?

Answer

It is possible for an ID to have both an identification-number and document-number.

  • An identification-number is a unique identifier for the individual.
  • A document-number pertains to the issued identification card.

IdentificationNumber-DocumentNumber

In this example California driver’s license, there is both an identification-number and a document-number

On a California Driver’s Licenses, the number that identifies the driver is the DL, or Driver’s License number. The DD (Document Discriminator) contains a number that identifies the actual driver’s license ID card itself. Both of these are actually alphanumeric, but are referred to as numbers.

Governments will name these fields according to their systems, languages, and their ID’s layouts. Once Persona detects the ID type, it can find each of these fields, assuming the ID type includes them.

📌 This answer was last updated on Oct 8th, 2025, by Ryan Cole, a Growth Content Manager at Persona. FAQs, unlike other articles, are written to provide Persona Community members with specific answers to common questions. While we periodically review responses and answers, please note when this FAQ was last updated as information may have changed since then.