NADRA starts issuance of ID Cards for overseas Pakistanis
By Saad Saud


ISLAMABAD—National Database & Registration Authority has started issuing computerized ID cards (NICOP) & (POC) for overseas Pakistanis through its automated web based application system.
As many as 474 National ID Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) and 43 Pakistan Origin Cards (POC) have so far been issued through recently launched NADRA’s automated web-based application system which does not require the applicants to visit the consulates or Nadra offices. According to the sources, around 688 applications for NICOPs and 65 for POCs were received through the newly introduced system. The average processing time of applications received through the web-based system was around 10 days. With the issuance of 305 NICOPs and 20 POCs, the United Kingdom tops the chart whereas 148 NICOPs and 20 POCs were issued in the USA. According to details, in Canada 100 NICOPs and 4 POCs were issued since the introduction of this swift service.
NICOP & POC are a secured identity document for overseas Pakistanis which facilitate citizens traveling and residing abroad. In a bid to facilitate the overseas Pakistanis, NADRA had launched a web-based booking system for NICOP and POC in September 2006. Under the new system the Pakistanis living abroad can apply for their NICOPs and POCs online and the respective payments can be made through credit cards.
With the introduction of this innovative system the Pakistani citizens living abroad are able to apply for their NICOPs and POCs remotely through web based applications without visiting the consulates or NADRA offices.
Sources informed that the new system eliminates the inordinate delays caused due to the transportation of manual forms from Pakistan embassies / missions abroad. This system will not only reduce the overall time consumed from application till card delivery, but will also facilitate the overseas Pakistanis to apply for their NICOPs / POCs without even visiting their respective embassies /missions.
NADRA’s Swift Registration Centers in Jeddah-Saudi Arabia, Birmingham, London and Manchester-UK, Dubai and Abu Dhabi-UAE are already facilitating Pakistanis living abroad in getting registered with the authority while NADRA has also planned to establish such centers in Medina Munawwarah and Riyadh. In addition to these centers the authority has also deputed its staff working in different Pakistani Missions to visit Pakistani communities living in cities where there are no Pakistani consulates. These Mobile Registration teams called MRT visit the Pakistani communities on weekends to distribute forms among them and also guide them in filling the forms, which are collected at a given date or following weekend.