Getting NADRA B Form in Pakistan

This is one of the series where a location and a process are explained for the common good. The post uses the term "Bay Form" or "NADRA B From", instead of NADRA's Child Registration Certificate, just because people still refer to this document with its old name.

If you want to register your child on B Form, the first and foremost is to get a birth certificate from your respective Union council. B Form is a pre-requisite to so many things that you should get it done as early as possible.

Documents Required for NADRA B Form

1. NIC of both parents
2. Original Union Council Birth Certificate; read this if you haven't got it up till now

You are not required to bring your child to NADRA's office.

Step 0: Locating NADRA

If you are in Karachi, one of the executive registration center of NADRA is located in KDA Scheme #1, at Tipu Sultan Road. Since it's an executive center, the fee is higher than other NADRA centers but you get fast delivery and comparatively lot less number of people in the queue ahead of you.

The best time to visit it is either 8am to 8:30am or 3:15pm to 3:30pm. There is negligible queue at these mentioned times. The working hours are 8am to 4pm, except Friday when they take prayer's break for around 2 hours in between.

Step 1: Getting Listed as Married

If you already have yourself mentioned as married in NADRA's records, you can skip this step. Otherwise, you must first get your NIC record updated. The fee at the Executive/ Fast Track center is Rs. 1000/- as of today. They will require your current NIC as well as the NIC of your wife (surprisingly, no other proof of marriage is required). A picture of yours will be taken, followed by scanning of all fingers as well as gathering of some demographic information which is perhaps considered important by the government. The process is exactly similar to applying for a renewal of an expired National ID card.

At the end, you will be given a printout of the information, and now you have to get it attested. You'll have to seek a gazetted government officer to attest the form; he/she should sign the form, put in his/ her stamp, and write down his own NIC number. Unfortuantely, you can't go to notary public for this attestation; it has to be a government officer. Once you have that, submit the form back at NADRA's office, and visit them after a week to collect your new NIC.

Step 2: Applying for NADRA B Form

It's better to have both parents to go through step 1. However, it's only mandatory for father to have the marital status changed in government's records. The process for applying for B Form is exactly the same as that of renewal of your National ID Card. The fast track fee is Rs. 500. Surprisingly, you have to get your picture taken and fingers scanned for B Form; surprising because NADRA already has that data with it. The only "new" information gathered by NADRA is the child's name and his/ her date and place of birth.

Finally, you would be given a print out, which have you to get attested and submit back at NADRA.

Once again, if you are in the fast track office, visit them after a week to collect B Form.