Pakistan NADRA CNIC-NIC NICOP registration Experience — Quick tips
Every year tens of millions of go from being a minor to becoming an adult. However, these tens of millions of kids aren’t exactly sure about the process to getting their Computerized National ID Cards (CNICs) once they’re eighteen.
In Pakistan, your most important ID document is the CNIC (or NICOP if you’re living abroad; NICOP stands for National Identification Card for Overseas Pakistanis). The CNIC stands for Computerised National Identification Card. With its issuing, this card confirms that you are a citizen of Pakistan and have officially been verified to be the age of eighteen or above. At least for the next ten years until you have to get it renewed.
I’d been on my father’s case for about two months to get it done. Depends on how you look at it. I turned eighteen in April, right before my exams started. And so I didn’t have the time to go and get my CNIC made. And once the exams ended by the middle of June, it was time for Ramadan where my dad was too tired in the morning to stand in line at a NADRA office in the morning. The National Database and Registration Authority (more commonly known as NADRA) operates different centres around the country, which it uses for inquiries, CNIC registrations, replacement or renewal, and B-form creation requests.
Once Ramadan finished, Eid started and our relatives arrived from abroad. This is July. Essentially two months after I had turned eighteen. You could imagine how impatient I was getting. I mean, one of the most important things in my life, I just had to get it done as soon as possible. But now that Eid was over I could finally start asking him again as to when he would take me. Now I understand some of you are thinking “If he’s an adult why did he need his dad to come with him?” The answer for that is because when you are getting your CNIC made for the first time, the guidelines state that your father must be present. And that’s where the tips starts, with all the surprises and things we learnt present. Two weeks after Eid we finally took time out to go to the NADRA office and here’s what we learned:
Tip One: Cancel the rest of your plans
I had thought that if I reached the NADRA Executive Centre (supposedly a faster operating centre) by 8:30am, then we would be done by maximum 10:30ish am. I, however, was wrong. I essentially left the NADRA Executive Centre at 12:30pm. Which for me turned out to be extremely late as I had a class at college that started at 12:00pm. My dad didn’t go for work in the morning since he was with me, and by the time we got home it was near 1:00pm, meaning the first half of the day was all spent at NADRA. And before this we had taken out another day just to locate the nearest NADRA centre since the one near our place had closed within the last week.
Tip Two: Do your research
Figure out where the nearest NADRA centre is. Use Google maps or the official website. Or just drive around the city until you find a centre near your house that caters to your neighbourhood. Also figure out which documents you need, what you need to have attested, and whether or not there are certain rules or exemptions that apply to you. Otherwise you’ll have to come back another day and the process of standing in line for a token and the payment for registration will all happen again. And there’s a line to get to the token line so be mindful of going through that again too. For example NADRA states that you must bring your father along with you if you are getting your CNIC made for the first time, what they don’t tell you is that if you are a woman then you must bring your mother along as well. We saw three or four families turn back because they hadn’t brought both sets of their parents. These are things that aren’t written anywhere but you have to find out by talking to people or researching (like reading this!!!)
Tip Three: Get there approximately half an hour early
Though we had left the house at 8:30am and gotten there at approximately 8:50am, there was already a huge line. The office was to open at 9:00am and by the time I got to the line there were already approximately eighteen other people in front of me (no pun intended).
Tip Four: Confirm you research
Even after doing all this research make sure you go to the information desk and check with them that you have everything. It is essential that you have all the documents that they require you to have otherwise somewhere along the process, in fact almost towards the end, they will tell you that your documents are incomplete and you need to get the missing ones. Sometimes getting the missing documents can take up to a day. Especially if you can’t find them. For me, we hadn’t brought my certificate of education since I wasn’t doing the local system of education. When the documents were being compiled that’s when they told us that they would then need my O level result and admittance sheets. I was lucky, we had my mother WhatsApp the picture to us, which we then quickly had printed out from a local photocopier. I also had to call my mother to make sure I had the right blood group during registration.
Tip Five: Photocopy all your documents and hold tightly
Even though you may have all your original documents, NADRA also requires you to have a photocopy of all your documents. Either for their personal hard copy, or for forwarding to their superiors, you must have two to three photocopies available. It isn’t necessary that all NADRA centres function in the same way. We had gone to an Executive centre as we wanted to get my CNIC made as soon as possible. It is best to keep your documents in a folder as it is possible you will tire while standing in line and loosen your grip. This is the perfect opportunity for the wind to snatch the papers out of your hand and carry them all away.
Tip Six: Be ready for a long wait
As mentioned earlier, it took a long time to get this process done. From getting there half an hour earlier, to standing in the line outside the centre for an hour, to then sitting in the token line for another hour, it was a lengthy experience. As the two new NADRA super centres have opened up the other smaller centres are closing down. Maybe it was a slow day for them, but the centre we had gone to was severely understaffed. With seven to eight desks there were only three people managing them. The centre was so understaffed that we realised the supervisor was also involved in the process of vetting people rather than monitoring the floor from his office.
Tip Seven: Make sure you know what’s going on
It can sometimes get confusing as to what happens next. You step inside and are told to take a seat. Eventually, you are gestured by the line manager to step into the line to receive your token. Once you get your token you then step back until your token number is called out. From there they jot down your basic information and check your documents before producing your registration papers. While this paper is being created you then proceed to have your picture taken, which will appear on your CNIC. After this, along with your father, you then get yourselves biometrically verified. And begin filling out the registration paper with the relevant details or corrections, before finally attaching all documents and giving them in to be processed. Though your basic information has been entered you’re required to put down the names of your paternal grandparents. And in our case they had written my mother’s name wrong and so I had to get that rectified as well.
Tip Eight: Carry an extra pen
If you would like for your work to get done quicker then you should carry your own pens with you. Rather than standing in line and waiting for your turn to use the pen at the desk, you can stand on the side of the room and quickly fill out the details and hand them back in. You can also be a great help to others who may need to use your pen for their own forms.
Tip Nine: Make sure someone is at home to help you out
In case you’re like me, who didn’t realize that he needed is blood group and education certificates, it is always nice to have someone at home that you can call to confirm various details. Or for them to be able to look for documents while you are filling out your registration form. If someone isn’t at home you’ll either have to rush back home and quickly return to the NADRA centre that will close at 4:00pm. And the traffic both at the centre and on the roads tends to increase after 12:00pm. And if you don’t get the work done within that day, you’ll have to return again another day and begin from the first step.
Tip Ten: Carry water and a light snack
It is a long process, and so it is best to carry water to stay hydrated and maybe some small fruit or nuts to eat while you’re waiting to be called to the desk or to receive your token. You may not need it but I remember that I felt extremely drained after the process and just wished I had water with me.
This is just how the experience at NADRA is, and there may be a few more surprises that I didn’t experience. Each centre has its own staff that vary in their levels of confirming your documents. Some are quicker, while others are slower. The normal NADRA centre will have your CNIC ready in approximately two months, however the executive centre will have yours ready within two or three weeks. I wrote this article to bridge the information gap as I really didn’t know how the process would work. I felt as if someone need to record and document it in a short piece so that others would be able to make their CNICs easily. I hope this article helped. Have fun making your CNIC!!
