Nadra is planning to establish swift centres in Pakistani foreign missions abroad to facilitate overseas Pakistanis to get registered with the authority, a press release issued said on Sunday.
A proposal according to the release is under consideration, which would be undertaken after Foreign Ministry's approval to assist and facilitate the Pakistanis living abroad to get registered with National Database & Registration Authority and issuance of their new ID Cards.
The English version of computerised NIC for overseas Pakistanis called NICOP is being issued to all Pakistanis living or working abroad on foreign visas. Old NICs have already been declared invalid in the country and all legal document including passports are being issued on the basis of new CNIC only.
Initially the swift centres are being planned in Saudi Arabia, UK and UAE, where Pakistani expatriates are living in a large number.
A delegation would be visiting these countries shortly to chalk out the modalities with officials of the Pakistani missions abroad for the establishment of NSRCs.
The swift centres, proposed to be made in the foreign mission are based on NSRC projects currently working throughout the country and providing high-tech facilities to the citizens revolutionising the concept of registration.
The Nadra Swift Registration Centres operate on the principal of live data capture and require the applicant's presence with their old NIC's and other related documentation to process a CNIC/ NICOP application.
At the centres the applicants are professionally guided through a process of data entry, photo imaging, signature and thumb impression capture using latest technology and expert assistance from the trained staff.
Once these centres are operational, people would not have to go through the lengthy procedure of filling the English/Urdu forms.
The new computerised national ID Card called CNIC, based on national language Urdu, is backed by a strong database providing online verification systems; this database currently holds data of around 54 million Pakistanis including minors.
NADRA has so far issued 6,63,259 NICOP and 27,632 POC to Pakistani nationals living abroad.