Pakistani ID card launch in Dubai

The long-awaited scheme of National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicop) will be launched from Dubai on Friday.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Lt Gen. (Retd) Moinuddin Haider will specially come to Dubai to officially launch the scheme.

A team of officials from Nati-onal Database and Registration Authority of Pakistan (Nadra), led by its Director General (Projects) Brigadier Khalid Javaid, has already arrived to finalise the arrangements to launch the scheme in coordination with Pakistani missions in the UAE.

"The Nicop card is a mandatory requirement for all Pakistanis living abroad for a period of six months or more," Brig. Javaid told Gulf News yesterday in an exclusive interview in Dubai.

Nadra, which is already in the process of issuing computerised identity cards replacing the old ones to Pakistani nationals within the country, will issue special Nicop cards to overseas Pakistanis with the aim of making a database of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs), and to check infiltration of those who hold fake Pakistani ID cards and passports.

Nicop is a machine-readable document and will facilitate movement through immigration controls. Cardholders will have to swap the cards at the time of arrival or departure from the country.

On account of its utility, it is an identification document usable in place of normal National Identity Card (NIC) wherever required.

As it carries a number of security features to safeguard against any fraudulent use, authorities at the airports or other exit or entry points in the country will be able to identify the person and get his or her data as soon as the card is swiped.

"Nicop is not only an identification document, but it also offers unique privileges and facilities to its holders, including visa-free entry into Pakistan, protection of Pakistan Government in any foreign country or state, membership for Overseas Pakistani Foundation (OFP), and above all trouble-free handling at Pakistani airports, as there will be separate line for the cardholders," Brig. Javaid explained.

Every NRP has to produce this card while availing himself of services such as passport renewal at Pakistani missions abroad and within Pakistan.

Cardholders will be issued free Pakistani ID cards once they go back to Pakistan for good.

Nicop will be in English while the Pakistani ID card is in Urdu language. Applicants will have to fill in two application forms, in English and Urdu.

Two categories of identity cards, which will be part of the launch programme, are: National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicop), and Pakistan Origin Card (POC).

Those eligible to apply for Nicop include all Pakistani citizens simultaneously holding the nationality of any other foreign country, and all Pakistani citizens holding resident or immigrant visa, whether permanent or otherwise, or equivalent visa or permit of a foreign country.

Residents in the UAE and Gulf areas who do not hold dual nationality are required to apply for Nicop only.

Application forms for the card will be available at Pakistani missions in the UAE and other Gulf countries, specified banks, and Pakistan International Airline offices in the region.

The forms can also be obtained at special counters at the airports in Pakistan, or by mail from Nadra offices in Pakistan.

Every Pakistani is required to get the card to be entitled to get any services from the Pakistani missions or back home, Brig. Javaid stressed.

"No service will be offered to those who do not get the Nicop card within the specified time," he said, adding the old ID cards would automatically be discarded once a person gets the Nicop.

Unlike the ID cards being issued to Pakistanis living in the country, the Nicop will be valid for only three years and will be renewed after its expiry.

The form also contains instructions on how to fill it up and about documents required to be attached. The completed forms are to be submitted at the Pakistani missions.

After processing the applications, the cards will be sent within six to eight weeks to Pakistani missions where the forms were submitted for distribution to the applicants.

Overseas Pakistani will have to pay $25 (Dh91.50) per card. The old NIC will remain valid until the new computerised card is issued. Nadra has already started issuing Nicop to Pakistanis who were going abroad for work or live for the first time.

The second category, 'Pakistan Origin Card' (POC), will be issued to those who are of Pakistani origin but hold nationality of other countries.

The holders of POC are also entitled to various benefits including: visa-free entry to Pakistan, indefinite stay, exemption from reporting to police or foreigners' registration office, permission to purchase and sell property anywhere in Pakistan, right to open and operate bank accounts, and swift immigration procedure.

The registration fee for the POC is $100 for adults and $50 for children below 18.

According to a Nadra estimate, some four to six million Pakistanis live abroad. They include over one million in Saudi Arabia, around 400,000 in the UAE, 100,000 in Kuwait, 70,000 in Bahrain, and around 70,000 in Oman.