The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) on Tuesday urged the citizens,, whose computerised national identity cards (CNICs) have expired, to renew them immediately in order to avoid any inconvenience in legal, financial or other matters, where a valid CNIC is compulsory.
In a statement, the authority stated that more than nine million CNICs have expired till date and their renewal is must to avoid any inconvenience as the expired cards are automatically blocked by the system and cannot be used for any transactions relating to purchase, sale, transfer of property, opening of bank accounts and foreign travel that require identification of an individual. Moreover, machine readable passport cannot be obtained or processed due to expired computerised identity cards.
NADRA Deputy Chairman Tariq Malik informed the citizens that the NADRA (National Identity Card) Rules, 2002, Rule 12, Sub-Rule (1) emphasises that ‘A citizen shall, at any time but not later than one month, after the date of expiry or early termination of validity period of his existing card, apply for fresh registration under the regulations and the new card may be issued by the authority subject to fulfilment of applicable criteria and formalities and payment of the prescribed fee, if any.’
“The NADRA has instructed its staff across the country to facilitate applicants for renewal on priority basis while NADRA shall facilitate the applications even 90 days before the expiry date of the card to keep convenience of the public at the forefront.”
Malik made it clear that no documentary proof except the original CNIC is required to be submitted by the applicants, applying for their CNIC renewal.
“No attestation is required for renewal cases. Applicant is issued CNIC with his/her latest information and extended expiry date. If an applicant gets his/her CNIC renewed at an age of 56, his/her CNIC is declared valid for life time.”
Explaining the need of CNIC renewal, Malik said the status of an individual undergoes through various stages, for example, from childhood to adult, single to married, student to working individual, etc and the card’s expiry date facilitates in gathering fresh, updated information of the citizens, which further aids the government in effective planning.
“The demographic data of citizens is vital for analysis and planning for overall betterment of the country, which needs to be updated so that various development projects can be efficiently designed and executed,” concluded the NADRA deputy chairman.