National Registration Department (JPN): Malaysia's Civil Registry and MyKad Authority

Most guides to the National Registration Department answer one counter question — how to replace a lost IC, or what to bring when a child turns 12. But JPN is bigger than any single transaction: it is the agency that records a Malaysian’s entire legal life. The National Registration Department (Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara, or JPN) is a department under the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kementerian Dalam Negeri, KDN). It registers the important events in every individual’s life — births, deaths, adoptions, marriages and divorces — determines citizenship status, and issues identity documents to eligible individuals.

What does JPN actually do?

JPN’s core business is organised into eight registration areas: Birth, Identity Card, Adoption, Marriage, Divorce, Death, Citizenship, and the MEKAR programme. Read together, they map onto a single life cycle: a birth is registered, an identity card follows at 12, a marriage or divorce is recorded in adulthood, a death closes the record — and citizenship status is determined and documented throughout.

Where did JPN come from?

The department’s origins trace to the Emergency (Registration Areas) Regulations 1948, under which the first identity cards were issued and residents were required to register and hold an identity card from age 12. Identity cards for the Federation of Malaya began to be issued on 2 August 1960.

The modern milestone came decades later. On 5 September 2001, JPN introduced the MyKad, making Malaysia the first country in the world to use an identity card that incorporated both photo identification and fingerprint biometric data on an embedded computer chip. It was one of the MSC Malaysia flagship applications, conceived as a Government Multipurpose Card.

The MyKad: who needs one, and when

The MyKad is a compulsory smart identity card for Malaysian citizens, serving as the official identity document for individuals aged 12 and above. The 12-digit NRIC number printed on it follows the format YYMMDD-PB-###G — the date of birth, a place-of-birth code, a sequential number, and a final digit that relates to the holder’s gender (odd for male, even for female).

Situation	What it costs	Key requirement
First MyKad at age 12	Free within 30 days of the 12th birthday; RM10 after	Applicant and sponsor attend a JPN counter in person with the birth certificate and the sponsor’s IC
Lost MyKad — first loss	RM110 (RM10 + RM100)	Police report required
Lost MyKad — second loss	RM310 (RM10 + RM300)	Police report required
Lost MyKad — third or later loss	RM1,010 (RM10 + RM1,000)	Police report required

A child must apply on turning 12 (and before 16). For a lost card, eligible applicants may apply online through the MyKad Replacement System where no change of photograph or particulars is involved; otherwise the biometric capture must be done at a counter.

Holders also remain responsible for keeping their particulars current. Address updates are a longstanding requirement under Regulation 15 of the National Registration Regulations 1990; in July 2026, JPN publicly denied running any special enforcement campaign to compel address updates, while reminding holders to keep their details accurate.

Which laws sit behind JPN’s services?

Different statutes govern different registers. Birth and death registration is administered by JPN under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 (Act 299). Identity-card matters run under the National Registration Regulations 1990. Marriage, divorce, adoption and citizenship are handled through JPN’s respective registration processes.

What’s next

For any single transaction — registering a newborn, applying for a first MyKad, or replacing a lost card — start at the JPN portal (jpn.gov.my) or the federal service portal (malaysia.gov.my) for the exact document checklist and current fees. Several details still awaiting confirmation against primary sources — the exact birth-registration deadlines by region, the age-18 re-registration rule, and the full lost-IC fee exemptions — are listed under verificationNeeded above.