Nadra | Pakistan

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday restrained authorities from deporting a petitioner named ‘Quaid-i-Azam’ and directed him to appear before the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra)’s verification board. A two-member PHC bench, comprising Justice Waqar Ahmed and Justice Inamullah Khan, was hearing a petition filed by resident Quaid-i-Azam against the blocking of his national identity card. Advocate Saifullah Mohib Kakakhel appeared on behalf of the petitioner, while Nadra’s legal representative Shahid Imran Gigiyani represented the authority. During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel informed the court that his client was doing business in Dubai and Pakistan. He said the authorities had blocked his client’s national identity card. The counsel said his client was a Pakistani citizen who was running a business and paying taxes to the government. He said his client was being penalised by the blocking of his identity card, which was causing him immense hardship. Kakakhel said his...

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday restrained authorities from deporting a petitioner named ‘Quaid-e-Azam’ and directed him to appear before the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra)’s verification board. A two-member PHC bench, comprising Justice Waqar Ahmed and Justice Inamullah Khan, was hearing a petition filed by resident Quaid-e-Azam against the blocking of his national identity card. Advocate Saifullah Mohib Kakakhel appeared on behalf of the petitioner, while Nadra’s legal representative Shahid Imran Gigiyani represented the authority. During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel informed the court that his client was doing business in Dubai and Pakistan. He said the authorities had blocked his client’s national identity card. The counsel said his client was a Pakistani citizen who was running a business and paying taxes to the government. He said his client was being penalised by the blocking of his identity card, which was causing him immense hardship. Kakakhel said his...

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday directed a citizen named Quaid-e-Azam to appear before the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Board while hearing a petition challenging the blocking of his Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC).

Officials of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have allegedly admitted to processing Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) for more than 100 foreign nationals, according to sources.

ISLAMABAD: Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni on Wednesday visited the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) headquarters in Islamabad, where he was briefed on the authority's modern identity management system and digital public service initiatives.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said on Wednesday that four suspects, including officials of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), had been arrested in Karachi for their alleged involvement in making false documents for Afghan nationals. In a press release, a spokesperson for the agency identified the suspects as Nadra Assistant Director Imamul Haq, Nadra Deputy Assistant Director Fayyaz Ahmed, Junaid Ahmed, a watchman working for the authority, and a private agent Muhammad Umar Shah. He added that law enforcement agencies had seized important records and other evidence as part of the operation, adding that the scope of the investigation had been expanded. “Further significant revelations and arrests are expected during the investigation, and all facilitators and key figures linked to this network will be brought to justice,” he said. The spokesperson said that preliminary investigations showed that the suspects were involved in facilitating the issuance of fake identity documents f...

KARACHI: The family of a missing National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) official approached police on Tuesday with an application for his recovery. The application, seen by Dawn, addressed Sindh Inspector General of Police (IG) Javed Alam Odho and stated that applicant Sohail Sangi’s younger son, Fayyaz Ahmed Janjhi, who is an assistant director at Nadra, had been missing since 6:30pm on July 20. The application further stated that the missing official’s family had tried to contact him continuously, but his phone was switched off. The family also contacted his colleagues, who said he had left his office at Ayesha Manzil at around 6pm on Monday. “But he did not reach home,” the application said. Urging authorities to register a complaint of him going missing and locate him, the applicant said his son or the rest of the family had no enmity with anyone. Janjhi’s elder brother, Riaz Sohail, told Dawn that the family had approached the Sindh IG with the application, and the provincial police chief h...

ISLAMABAD: The functioning of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) came under scrutiny on Wednesday when the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) questioned the notion that its records are immune to tampering. “Who says Nadra records cannot be tampered with?” wondered Justice Aamer Farooq while hearing a habeas corpus petition regarding the custody of a minor girl, Ayesha Tariq, who had converted from Christianity to Islam. Justice Farooq was heading a two-judge FCC bench that also comprised Justice K.K. Agha. During the hearing, senior counsel Muhammad Saqib Jillani, representing the girl’s parents, argued that Ayesha was underage, adding that a Nadra certificate to this effect had been placed on record. He also expressed concern that the girl might have married. Orders shifting of newly converted Muslim girl to Darul Aman in habeas corpus plea Additional Advocate General Punjab Waseem Mumtaz Malik, however, submitted that if the girl was under 18, she should be sent to her parents; otherwise, ...

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has revamped its website, enabling citizens to access district-level birth and death records and also file right-to-information (RTI) requests online through a verified login. According to the authority, it has launched a major overhaul of its website, and replaced a text-heavy site that had been criticised as outdated and hard to navigate. A press release said that Nadra, which holds biometric data for over 240 million citizens, had redesigned group services, statistics and support “in a structured and user-centric manner”. “For the first time, Nadra’s Geospatially Referenced Demographic Information System is public. The tool displays registration data on interactive maps and lets users compare district-level census figures with Nadra’s own records,” the release said. “A map gallery offers downloadable thematic maps for research and planning — data previously restricted to government departments,” it added. It said that the key identity docu...

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) on Thursday warned citizens of additional fees and penalties for those who delay obtaining or renewing their identity documents. In a press release, the authority said that identity documents were issued for a specified time and it was every the responsibility of every adult citizen to ensure the timely renewal of their identity documents, particularly CNICs, before their expiry. “Failing this, essential services linked to these documents, including bank accounts, mobile phone SIMs, and other verification-based services may be adversely affected or suspended,” it said. “Furthermore, citizens whose identity cards have expired may not be able to avail themselves of various government and welfare programmes, such as the Benazir Income Support Programme, government subsidy schemes, including the recently announced fuel subsidy scheme, as well as transactions like property and vehicle transfers,” it added. “This results in unnecessary hardship for...

The Federal Investigation Agency said on Sunday it has arrested an official of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for his alleged “involvement” in issuing fake identity cards to Afghan nationals in Karachi. As per a statement by an FIA spokesperson, the agency’s officials conducted a raid in the Metroville SITE area, where two Afghan nationals were arrested and found to be possessing “illegal Pakistani identity documents”. The statement added that upon further investigation, it surfaced that a Nadra official, identified as Furqan Ahmed Khan Durrani, was “involved” in approving Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) issued to the two Afghan nationals. Durrani was arrested in a subsequent raid carried out in Karachi’s Nursery area. The FIA statement said that action has been taken against the suspects under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. It added that FIA has obtained a three-day physical remand of the “arrested suspects” and further investigation wa...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to extend full cooperation to law enforcement agencies in tracing and deporting undocumented foreign nationals.

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday directed the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to immediately identify aliens who managed to illegally obtain Pakistani citizenship, and remove them from the national database. The minister, during his visit to Nadra headquarters, chaired a high-level meeting where he praised Nadra’s performance and effective public services, and directed it to fully support law enforcement agencies in the repatriation of foreigners illegally residing in Pakistan. Nadra Chairman Lt Gen Muhammad Munir Afsar briefed the Naqvi on the institution’s performance, as well as its ongoing and future projects. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Dr Usman Anwar and senior Nadra officials were also present on the occasion. Naqvi noted significant improvements in Nadra’s services over the past two years and directed that more modern services be introduced for public convenience. He also instructed Nadra to build state-of-the-art offices in major cities...

Bill allows NADRA to block CNICs of suspects

The Senate Standing Committee on Interior has approved a government bill granting NADRA the power to temporarily block the identity cards of individuals deemed suspicious for up to 60 days.

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has cancelled around 4.2 million Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) of individuals who have been recorded as deceased in provincial civil registration systems, according to a statement issued by the authority. In many cases, while deaths are formally registered, the next of kin do not apply for the cancellation of CNICs of the deceased, resulting in a discrepancy between civil registration records and Nadra’s database. Under the legal framework, Nadra maintains and updates the national citizen database by incorporating “vital life-event information” — birth, death, marriage, and divorce — received from provincial and local Civil Registration Management Systems (CRMS), the statement said. These records are reported and registered at local civil registration authorities, including union councils, town committees and cantonment boards, typically by blood relatives of the individuals concerned, it detailed. “In pursuance of its statutor...

The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) announced that it would issue Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) to those seeking first-time registration without a birth certificate, a statement said on Sunday. The time-bound facility for first-time registration would be valid until December 31, 2026, and would be subject to strict verification conditions. “This facilitation has been approved under Section 5(1)(b) and Section 20 of the Nadra Ordinance, 2000, read with Rule 8 of the Nadra NIC Rules, 2002, which permit alternative verification mechanisms in specified categories”, the statement said. It added that the CNIC issuance under this framework would be allowed only where identity was established through NADRA’s existing records and mandatory biometric verification of already registered immediate family members. Per the statement, for a married woman aged 18 years or above, a valid local government Nikah Nama, a valid CNIC or National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) of ei...

ISLAMABAD: Around 31.9 million births registered with union councils (UC) in 2025 are yet to be added to the record in the National Database and Registration Authority’s (Nadra) central database, according to an annual performance report. The report was recently submitted by Nadra to the interior ministry, according to which a total of 227m individuals are registered with the authority. Overall, nearly 97 per cent of Pakistan’s population is now included in the registration system, according to the report, which also shows that 52pc of the registered individuals are males and 48pc are females. As for biometric data, Nadra’s system contains facial records of 170m people, iris data of seven million individuals and 1.68 billion fingerprints, the reports says. During 2025 alone, the report states, some 445m biometric verifications were carried out, contributing to “improved transparency” and “strengthening of digital governance systems”. According to the report, national registration increased by 4pc in 2025, reg...

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has introduced a new online identity verification system, titled “Nishan-e-Pakistan”, aimed at modernising and streamlining the country’s verification processes through a single digital platform.

• Interior minister’s surprise visit to DHA Nadra centre exposes irregularities • Takes notice of delays, long queues; asks staff to ensure people don’t have to visit more than once • Inspects immigration counters in a visit to Karachi airport • Declares professional beggars can’t be permitted to go abroad KARACHI: In a surprise visit to a Mega Centre of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) in Defence Housing Authority on Saturday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi found multiple lapses of serious nature in public service delivery, including a startling case in which a death certificate was issued for a woman who was still alive. The issue came to light when a citizen approached the interior minister during his visit to the facility with a complaint regarding his wife’s death certificate, who was in fact alive. A statement issued after the visit said that Mr Naqvi immediately took notice of the “error” and ordered on-the-spot correction of the documentation, directing officials to ensure acco...