Personal ID Number (CURP) (Mexico)
Encyclopedia
The Clave Única de Registro de Población (translated into English as Unique Population Registry Code or else as Personal ID Number) (abbreviated CURP) is a unique identity code for both citizens and residents of Mexico
. Each CURP code is a unique alphanumeric
18-character string intended to prevent duplicate entries.
. Full names in Spanish-speaking countries (including Mexican full names) consist of three elements:
The CURP code is composed of 18 characters that are assigned as follows:
For married women, only maiden names are used.
For example, the CURP code for a hypothetical person named Gloria Hernández García, a female, born on 27 April 1956 in the state of Veracruz, could be HEGG560427MVZRRL05.
" appearing anywhere in the CURP, the "Ñ" is replaced by an "X".
, in the case of men, the first name will be overlooked and the fourth character will be taken from the second given name's initial. This is because the names María and José are very common and would generate many duplicates if used to generate the code.
For example, if the person were named María Fernanda Escamilla Arroyo, her CURP's first four characters would be EAAF because María does not count for the CURP's fourth character when a second given name is present.
s) in the first four characters of the string, a Catalog of Inappropriate Words (Catálogo de Palabras Inconvenientes) lists many such possible combinations and provides replacements that usually entail changing the second letter, a vowel, into an "X".
, and other government services; the document was printed on green paper at the time. Valid copies of existing CURPs can now be printed on plain paper by visiting an official website
.
and may be laminate
d for preservation. The front of the card gives the CURP 18-character string, given names and surnames, plus the date of registration and a folio number. The back contains information referencing the document used as proof to originally assign the CURP code (if it was a birth certificate, folio number and issuing municipio
are included), and a barcode
.
The Agreement provides assigning a CURP number to everyone living in Mexico and to Mexicans living abroad.
Currently the CURP is essential for tax filings, to keep records of companies
, schools, membership in government-run health services, passport
applications, and other government services.
The CURP number is now used in all Civil Registry individual records (birth
and death certificate
s) and certified copies thereof.
Although primarily intended to substitute for a series of registration numbers (IMSS, RFC, IFE), the CURP has failed to replace any of these, which continue to use their own code-generation protocols. Nevertheless, the IFE voting card now contains both the IFE code and the CURP code.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Each CURP code is a unique alphanumeric
Alphanumeric
Alphanumeric is a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters, and is used to describe the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits or a text constructed from this collection. There are either 36 or 62 alphanumeric characters. The alphanumeric character set consists of the numbers 0 to...
18-character string intended to prevent duplicate entries.
How CURP codes are built
To understand how CURP codes are built, one must first understand Hispano American naming conventionsHispano American naming customs
Hispano American naming customs are very similar to the two-surname personal appellation practised in Spain. This article highlights some of the differences that are found....
. Full names in Spanish-speaking countries (including Mexican full names) consist of three elements:
- Given nameGiven nameA given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
(s); - First surnameSurnameA surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
: the father's first surname; and - Second surname: the mother's first surname.
The CURP code is composed of 18 characters that are assigned as follows:
- The first surname's initial and first inside vowelVowelIn phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
; - The second surname's initial (or the letter "X" if, like some foreign nationals, the person has no second surname);
- The first given name's initial;
- Date of birth (2 digits for year, 2 digits for month, and 2 digits for day);
- A one-letter gender indicator (H for male (hombre in Spanish) or M for female (mujer in Spanish));
- A two-letter code for the stateStates of MexicoThe United Mexican States is a federal republic formed by 32 federal entities .According to the Constitution of 1917, the states of the federation are free and sovereign. Each state has their own congress and constitution, while the Federal District has only limited autonomy with a local Congress...
where the person was born; for persons born abroad, the code NE (nacido en el extranjero) is used; - The first surname's second inside consonant;
- The second surname's second inside consonant;
- The first given name's second inside consonant; and
- Two characters ranging from 1-9 for people born before 2000 or from A-Z for people born since 2000; these characters are generated by the National Population Registry to prevent identical entries.
For married women, only maiden names are used.
For example, the CURP code for a hypothetical person named Gloria Hernández García, a female, born on 27 April 1956 in the state of Veracruz, could be HEGG560427MVZRRL05.
"Ñ"
If any step in the above procedure leads to the letter "ÑÑ
Ñ is a letter of the modern Latin alphabet, formed by an N with a diacritical tilde. It is used in the Spanish alphabet, Galician alphabet, Asturian alphabet, Basque alphabet, Aragonese old alphabet , Filipino alphabet, Chamorro alphabet and the Guarani alphabet, where it represents...
" appearing anywhere in the CURP, the "Ñ" is replaced by an "X".
Very common given names
When a person has two given names and the first given name is María, as is often the case for women in Mexico, or JoséJosé
José is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, they are pronounced differently in each language: in Spanish and in Portuguese....
, in the case of men, the first name will be overlooked and the fourth character will be taken from the second given name's initial. This is because the names María and José are very common and would generate many duplicates if used to generate the code.
For example, if the person were named María Fernanda Escamilla Arroyo, her CURP's first four characters would be EAAF because María does not count for the CURP's fourth character when a second given name is present.
Catalog of Inappropriate Words
To prevent words from forming that would be deemed palabras altisonantes (foul-sounding words, such as profanity or pejorativePejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
s) in the first four characters of the string, a Catalog of Inappropriate Words (Catálogo de Palabras Inconvenientes) lists many such possible combinations and provides replacements that usually entail changing the second letter, a vowel, into an "X".
Issuance
Initially, a CURP card (cédula) was obtainable at CURP government offices, and also at the Civil Registry, ISSSTE, IMSSIMSS
IMSS may refer to:* Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence, Italy* Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico* Integrated Maritime Surveillance Systems, an integrated network of coast-line radars...
, and other government services; the document was printed on green paper at the time. Valid copies of existing CURPs can now be printed on plain paper by visiting an official website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
.
Description
The CURP card is 5.4 cm wide and 8.6 cm long, fits in a walletWallet
A wallet, or billfold, is a small, flat case that is used to carry personal items such as cash, credit cards, identification documents , photographs, business cards and other paper or laminated cards...
and may be laminate
Laminate
A laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. The process of creating a laminate is lamination, which in common parlance refers to the placing of something between layers of plastic and gluing them with heat and/or pressure, usually with an...
d for preservation. The front of the card gives the CURP 18-character string, given names and surnames, plus the date of registration and a folio number. The back contains information referencing the document used as proof to originally assign the CURP code (if it was a birth certificate, folio number and issuing municipio
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
are included), and a barcode
Barcode
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...
.
Use
On 23 October 1996, the Presidential Agreement for the Adoption and Use of the Population Registry Unique Code by the Federal Government (Acuerdo Presidencial para la adopción y uso por la Administración Pública Federal de la Clave Única de Registro de Población) was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation.The Agreement provides assigning a CURP number to everyone living in Mexico and to Mexicans living abroad.
Currently the CURP is essential for tax filings, to keep records of companies
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
, schools, membership in government-run health services, passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
applications, and other government services.
The CURP number is now used in all Civil Registry individual records (birth
Birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth...
and death certificate
Death certificate
The phrase death certificate can describe either a document issued by a medical practitioner certifying the deceased state of a person or popularly to a document issued by a person such as a registrar of vital statistics that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death as later...
s) and certified copies thereof.
Although primarily intended to substitute for a series of registration numbers (IMSS, RFC, IFE), the CURP has failed to replace any of these, which continue to use their own code-generation protocols. Nevertheless, the IFE voting card now contains both the IFE code and the CURP code.
External links
- Consulta CURP, a website where an existing CURP may be consulted (in Spanish).
- Instructivo normativo para la asignación de la Clave Única de Registro de Población