Nadra’s red-tapism | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Nadra’s red-tapism

By: SUMAIR KHAN

I would like to share a personal experience so that the authorities concerned take some action to address the grievances of the general public visiting the Nadra offices for getting passports or CNICs.
I have been trying to get my documents completed with Nadra authorities for almost one and a half years. Unfortunately, something or the other keeps coming up to delay the process. I got married two years ago and went to the Nadra office to have my wife’s name changed on the CNIC.

The authorities first rejected my nikahnama as they claimed that it was not acceptable by them. They demanded a translation from the union council office. When my daughter was born, I got the certificate from the hospital to get a birth certificate made from the union council. I sent my wife to the Nadra office for my child’s B-form since I was not in the country. Only after visiting the office for many days, my wife was able to submit the form. When I reached the Nadra office on the given date to collect my daughter’s B-form, I was told that there was an objection, which we had to remove. The objection was that in the father’s CNIC the marital status given was ‘single’. It was a big surprise for me since I had submitted all the documents, including the nikahnama, its verification from the union council and translation, while I renewed my wife’s CNIC, but I still had to change my card.

I started the procedure all over again for my CNIC and later when I visited the office after a month, I was surprised to know that there was another objection waiting for me.

I was told that I should also have the National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) renewed as well. Now I have submitted the NICOP renewal form following the same process, which I did thrice earlier. Why do the authorities concerned not raise all the objections at the same time? If there were such requirements, then why did they not inform us when I was submitting my daughter’s B-form?

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