NADRA issues important clarification on B form

KARACHI: NADRA’s SMS system has been activated, and parents will receive immediate birth notifications.

NADRA has introduced a “Birth Notification Tool” to speed up and simplify the process of immediate registration of births and legal identification of children, under which parents will receive an SMS as soon as the child is born in the hospital.

NADRA spokesperson Syed Shabahat Ali, speaking in a podcast, said that in developed countries of the world, the process of legal identification begins with birth, while in Pakistan, in the past, this process started with a delay.

To solve this problem, NADRA has introduced a birth notification system in collaboration with the government and private hospitals.

He said that immediately after the birth of a child in a hospital or medical center, an SMS is sent to the parents’ mobile phones, which later proves helpful in registering the birth in the union council.

According to a NADRA spokesperson, the first step in registering a child is to issue a birth certificate at the Union Council, which has been made mandatory for all subsequent government registrations.

Parents can complete this process using their national identity card and hospital birth slip or birth notification SMS.

He said that citizens of Sindh and Punjab can also avail this facility through the “Pak Identity” app, while phased expansion is underway in Balochistan and permission is awaited in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to NADRA officials, after union council registration, it is necessary to make a Child Registration Certificate (CRC) or ‘B Form’ in a common language.

Children below the age of three do not need to visit the NADRA center, while a photograph and later biometric information will be required for children above the age of three.

Syed Shabahat explained that NADRA has divided the CRC into three different stages. The CRC for children under 3 years of age will be valid for three years, while biometric information will be mandatory after the age of 10. The CRC will expire on completion of 18 years of age, and a national identity card will have to be made.

He further said that the ‘juvenile card’ is actually a card form of the B form, which was introduced at the request of educational institutions and other organizations. Its legal status is the same as that of the CRC or the B form.

To make the B form (child registration certificate), obtain the child’s birth certificate from the union council, then parents should go to the nearest NADRA center with their original CNICs and the child’s.

In addition, parents can also apply for a B form or registration online through NADRA’s Pak ID mobile app.

The NADRA spokesperson instructed citizens that for complete guidance regarding the CRC and Pak Identity app, videos available on NADRA’s YouTube channel can be used.