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Recently I went thru the whole process of applying for NICOP online thru NADRA’s web site and received our cards by mail a few days back. It was kind of a roller coaster ride as some aspects were clear in the beginning and others weren’t. The whole process has educated me enough that I wanted to pass my experiences on to others who are interested in applying online for NICOP. I would highly recommend to my fellow overseas Pakistanis to apply online if:- You want it ASAP (I got mine in less than 3 weeks!)
- You hate working with papers, photocopies and filling forms (I really hate that!)
- You are comfortable working with web sites & online services (like if you pay bills online)
- You can operate a scanner and a few easy to use photo editing software with instructions (isn’t everyone into digital pictures these days?)
Here are some other compelling reasons to go get your NICOP.
- Visa free entry into Pakistan, that’s currently a savings of $124 for people living in US (if you are a US citizen, travel on US Passport and don’t have a valid Pakistani Passport)
- NADRA now requires every overseas Pakistani Citizen to obtain a NICOP.
- It’s also a requirement now for the issuance of Pakistani Passports by our consulates/embassies in foreign countries. Though you can still get a passport using your CNIC, but don’t count on it for too long. They will eventually expire as well and can only be renewed while you are in Pakistan, so you will need a NICOP eventually.
- CNIC is printed in Urdu and targeted towards local population in Pakistan, NICOP is printed in English and thus targeted towards overseas Pakistanis. It serves as an identity in situations where you may need to prove your Pakistani Citizenship in the absence of a valid Pakistani Passport.
- In my case it was a superb deal and best value for my money. My wife’s CNIC was about to expire so getting her a NICOP was a just investment. I needed a NICOP for my daughter who was born here in US so that she can enter Pakistan on our upcoming trip, and paying $124 for a Pakistani visa was just out of the question for a guy like me who keeps a very tight control over waste of his hard earned salary.
- In the end I was the only one with a valid CNIC, which was good for another 5 years, but had to go get one as applying for NICOPs for your whole family at the same time is the best way to go, plus being the ‘Family Head’ I had to get it, as I needed to prove my status as such so that they can issue a NICOP to my daughter.
- Our NICOPs are valid until 2018/2020/2023 (see my little concern below on validity periods) and we paid $37.11 (NICOP Fee) + 1.11 (Foreign Transaction Fee, charged by my credit card issuer), a total of mere $38.22 (per card) for them.
- I personally think it’s a great deal and I thank our government for not robbing us, though they recently increased the fee (from $15 to $25 – this did affect me, I paid $25 plus delivery charges, totaling $37.11) & lowered the validity period (from 10 to 7 years – this didn’t affect me, as mentioned above the validity of our NICOPs is in the range of 10 to 15 years) but it still is pretty cheap, at least in my personal view.
Important: Please do not apply for ‘Pakistan Origin Card’ for yourself, any other member of your family and especially your children born outside of Pakistan. Doing so, you abandon your right to Pakistani Citizenship and (in my case) as there is a ‘Dual Citizenship’ agreement between Pakistan & US, I can keep both. Also children of Pakistani Citizens born outside of Pakistan get the right to Pakistani Citizenship automatically thru their parents (even if only one of them is Pakistani Citizen/National). This last fact is not that clear on NADRA’s web site so I wanted to make this abundantly clear to all readers.
Step 1: Online Account Creation
Go to NADRA’s web site at: http://www.nadra.gov.pk/
In the links menu on left hand side, point to ‘NICOP/POC’ and then click on ‘Apply Online’ in the sub menu when it appears.
On the resulting page, click on ‘Register Now’ to register with NADRA to create an account with them on their web site which you will use to apply online for NICOP.
The registration form is simple to fill up, all you need is a functional e-mail address, I used my personal Hotmail e-mail address to register. Just make sure that when you expect to receive any mail from NADRA, you look in Junk Mail folder as it will surely end up there if you have Junk Mail filters on as many of us do. On the field labeled as ‘No. of Applications’ there, you can always choose to add more applications later at any time so don’t be afraid of choosing one or two initially if later you may be adding more for your other family members.
When you submit registration info, it will ask you to agree to their ‘Terms & Conditions’ to use their system.
You will receive an e-mail like this from NADRA after your successful registration. It will provide you a link to confirm your registration (just click on it, it will open the same ‘Apply Online’ page and will confirm your registration so that you can login to apply for NICOP) & your login info.
Step 2: Login & Complete FormUsing the e-mail address with which you registered and the password you chose at that time, now you need to login to their online application system (it’s on the same ‘Apply Online’ page where you registered earlier).
After logging in you will see the following screen.
Click on ‘View/Edit Form’ (under ‘Form Status’) to start filing up your online NICOP application.
App. St. (Application Station/Type)On this tab, choose your nearest ‘Application Station’, in my case I live in Dallas, so I chose ‘Houston, Texas’. ‘Application Type’ should be set to ‘New’ but keep in mind you can also use this online system to renew or change some information on your NICOP or even get a duplicate NICOP in case you lost your original one.
Click on ‘Next’ button to go to ‘Personal Info’ tab.
Note: If due to any reason you have to log out at any stage of the online application, the system will automatically save all data entered by you, so you don’t have to worry about re-entering it again. It’s totally OK to fill up this online application in multiple sessions, so feel free to log off and take your time if you need to. I completed my online application over a period of one week, as gathering required data & documents took some time though I had already collected most of it after going thru the instructions on NADRA’s web site. NADRA will flush the online applications in progress if they are not completed within 6 months from start date.
Per. Info (Personal Information)Over here you will enter all personal details on yourself, your parents and spouse. You will need each person’s CNIC/NICOP or Old NIC numbers. If you are married, like myself, then you will be the ‘Family Head’ (Keep in mind that later you will need to provide a copy of your ‘Marriage Certificate’ or ‘Nikah Nama’ as well, which is a requirement to set your status as ‘Family Head’ in NADRA’s system), otherwise you may have to enter your parents or guardians info there.
Make sure you spell all names correctly in English and Urdu both. A soft Urdu keyboard will appear on screen (when you put focus on Urdu name fields) to help you with typing names in Urdu.
Click on ‘Next’ button to go to ‘Other Information’ tab.
Other (Other Information)Most fields here are pretty clear, all you need to do is to select the right one which applies to you. Make sure you follow the format for entering your phone number, if you point your mouse to that blue ‘i’ icon, it will provide an info pop-up with the format to use (see screenshot below). Make sure you check the box to agree on the provided text of affidavit. In the end you need to provide a reference, that could be your father or any other person, refer to the info icon for other options. Make sure you click on ‘Add’ button to enter/add reference person info properly in the application form. A message ‘Reference is saved successfully’ will appear to signify that.
Click on ‘Next’ button to go to ‘Passport’ tab.
Pass. (Passport)This is where you enter your passport information. I have a Pakistani passport so I entered related info there, while my daughter has US Passport so in her application, I entered info from her US Passport.
Click on ‘Next’ button to go to ‘Address’ tab.
Addr. (Present/Permanent Address)Here you will need to provide your present and permanent addresses. As you are living outside Pakistan, thus your present address should be your current address like I entered my street address in US and then in permanent address when I tried to enter the same address, it didn’t take it (see the screenshot with error saying ‘Both addresses cannot be foreign’).
I did that thinking that I am a permanent resident here in US thus my present address should also be my permanent address (also valid if you have planned to settle outside of Pakistan on a permanent basis). But the NADRA system for NICOP application is designed to take only one foreign address, so as I had already entered that as my present address, I had to enter my street address in Pakistan (which matches with what I have on my CNIC – this is important!) as my permanent address. I can understand this requirement to provide a permanent address in Pakistan as you are claiming Pakistani Citizenship, you should be able to provide a permanent address (to which you may retire to near the end of your life, when you will be all fed up with life in a foreign country or ‘aap ko jab apne watan ki yaad sataye gi’) in your country of (primary) citizenship. The only issue I have is with the text there which says ‘Preferably Foreign Address’ in both sections, that’s misleading. Again use the info icons to get more info on formats. Make sure you choose your current/present address at the end to receive your NICOP Cards, which is really important. The note at the bottom provide info on where NADRA can send NICOP Cards by mail.
Click on ‘Next’ button to go to ‘Images’ tab.
Images (Applicant’s Picture, Signature & Thumb Impression)Now you need to upload your passport size picture, signature and left thumb impression. You will need to scan all of these so that you can upload them. You will need a scanner for that (look for it at your home, work, library, or Kinkos!) and after you have got a scanned image, you will need to edit it to make sure the size of the scanned image file is under 100 KB. That’s when you will realize how small is 100 KB! But no need to fear about anything. You have two choices in your hands. One is called ‘Gimp’, it’s a free image editing software, you can download it from here and here are the instructions on how to use it to change the size of an image file. Another such free image editing software is called Paint.net, you can get it from here, and here are the instructions on how to use it to change the size of an image file. Happy Image Editing! Believe me, it’s really fun, if you are my kind of guy!
Click on ‘Next’ button to go to ‘Documents’ tab.
Docs (Documents)Now you will need to upload some required documents, first a scanned copy of the personal info page of your passport, visa info page is not required so no need to upload that (I didn’t do that either), then your own or your one of your parents’ CNIC (I uploaded my father’s CNIC image) and then birth certificate in case if you are working on your child’s application (I did that on my daughter’s application, uploaded here birth certificate issued by a city in US) or your own Nikah Nama, if you have set yourself as ‘Family Head’ earlier as you are married and have children for whom you are also submitting NICOP applications. Yes, there is no separate field to upload Nikah Nama, so you will have to upload it here. This is something I spent a considerable amount of time to confirm with NADRA authorities, so don’t be afraid of anything, it is the right way to provide them with your Nikah Nama. This is another major shortcoming of the system. You also do not need to have all documents attested by anyone, just scan the originals and upload them. In some cases, you may have access to originals, like CNICs of your parents, feel free to scan the copies of such documents and upload them.
Click on ‘Finish’ button to complete the application.
PreviewYou will then be provided a chance to ‘Preview’ your whole application on one screen. It will display all important parts, but not all of the information & documents which you provided.
Click on ‘Finish’ button to go to ‘Attestation’ Tab.
Attest. (Attestation)Here you will need to enter the information of a person who can attest your NICOP application. That person needs to provide you with his full name as on his CNIC/NICOP card, card number and signature, which you will need to scan & upload on this page.
Click on ‘Next’ button to go to ‘Payment’ tab.
PaymentYou now need to make the fee payment for your NICOP card. NICOP application of each member of your family is completed and processed separately. Fee payment is also made on a per application basis at the end of each application, so you will complete an application at a time, make the fee payment and then you will be done with that application and process other applications for your other family members in the same way. There is no way in the system to make the payment collectively for all your family members. This is another shortcoming of the system and results in multiple transaction charges on your credit card. They also don’t charge the card shipment by mail fee collectively for your family as all cards are sent in separate envelopes and may arrive on the same day or with a delay of a day or two, one after other.
Clicking on Finish button on Payment page takes you to the web site of a contracted credit card transaction service provider (ECXS) which actually uses Citibank’s system to process credit card transactions. No matter how illegitimate their web site looks, they are the legitimate contracted service provider to NADRA. I didn’t have any problems working with their system except once their system failed to process my payment and they did send me an e-mail right away notifying me of that (it looked exactly like the one pasted below, it just said ‘the transaction was declined’). I still waited for a few days to make sure there is no charge or authorization on my credit card by them before I made the payment again for that same NICOP application. They accept Visa & Master Card, no American Express. You will need to provide all usual information about your credit card, like name on card, number, expiry date and 3 digit security code on the back of the card on signature strip.
Here is the e-mail I got when my transaction was successfully processed.
And here is the e-mail I got from NADRA about the receipt of my application.
ChargesNADRA charged me Rs. 2520 per card, which was equal to a $37.11 charge on my credit card (see screenshot of transaction below). My credit card provider then charged me $1.11 as transaction fee on top of that. So the total for one card came to $38.22, which is not that bad as I explained above.
Tracking StatusYou can go to NADRA’s web site anytime after submitting your NICOP application and right there on the main page, using that small form you can find the current status of your application. All you need to enter is the ‘Form Number’, which is there in the email you received from NADRA after submitting your application.
I tracked my application thru all different stages of processing and I have listed all of them below one after other.
Stage I: Data Entry Completed
At this time I also got the following e-mail from NADRA. This was the last e-mail from NADRA in this regard. From this point onwards you can only see change in status by checking it online and then finally card arrives thru courier service.
Stage II: Printed
Stage III: Printed & Dispatched
Help
I hope everything is clear now but there could still be situations where you may need help or I may have left out something important inadvertently, so let me list several ways to get help if you need it at any stage.
- If you need any help while you are going thru the application process, you can ask questions here on this blog.
- Go to NADRA’s web site and read the instructions there.
- You can also file a complaint thru NADRA's web site, look for this option in the main links menu on the left hand side. You will need your Form Number to do so and they open a ticket for each complaint they receive. Anytime you or their representatives go and put any notes in the related ticket, you will receive a notification of that thru e-mail, so do check your Junk Mail folder for that.
- You can also chat live with one of NADRA’s representatives thru their web site, the chat section lies on the very top of ‘Apply Online’ page. Make sure you log in late at night as per the US time, keeping in mind that those reps are working during day time in Pakistan, which is generally 9 to 5 PM PST (Pakistan Standard Time, you can find the current date time for any place on earth from here). I had chat sessions with at least 5 or 6 reps, all of them were really helpful. Just be patient while chatting with them as they are handling more than one chat sessions at a time. Also be cool and don’t mind their English language skills (not our mother tongue anyway), phrase your questions in easy to understand short sentences. If chatting in English does not work to get you what you want, go right ahead and use Roman Urdu for chatting, you will surely get better results.
- You can also mail NADRA at nicop@nadra.gov.pk, they do take some time to respond back, so wait patiently for their response, no use sending the same mail again and again, but feel free to resend if you don’t get a response after 4 to 5 days.
- I also thought about calling them at 111-786-100 (a ‘Universal Access Number’ in Pakistan, if you dial it from outside Pakistan, dial it like any other international number, i.e. add the country code in front of it, Pakistan’s country code is 92, no need to add any city code, so dial: 92-111-786-100), which is the number of their call center for public inquiries (keep in mind that they also work on Pakistan time). People in Pakistan call that number all the time, so you can also ask one of your relative there to make an inquiry on your behalf, make sure that person at least has your ‘Form Number’.
Lo & Behold … NICOPs Arrive!
After exactly 19 days (within 3 weeks!) I had NICOP cards of all my family members in my hands (arrived within a couple of days of each other), delivered right at my door step thru DHL Express Service (overnight, within 24 hours!) mailed from NADRA, Islamabad. It was inside a soft plastic DHL Express envelope like the one below. The card was affixed to a folded letter size paper with my name and address printed on it, like a credit card is sent by companies here in US.
Here is the actual mailing label on the envelope.
Here is the front and back of the NICOP Card. It may not look as shiny and bright in these scanned images, but believe me it really is and will surely make you proud of your country, I felt so! There could be some things lacking in the current NADRA system, but still the national identity documents produced by NADRA are great in quality and serve their intended purpose with minimal cost to Pakistani citizens. I was really excited when I got my CNIC & Computerized Passport back in Pakistan and was even more excited when I received my NICOP here in US after I filed an online application for it. Whatever anyone says, Pakistan and its public service organizations have entered into 21st century and now its upon all of us to help make them better at what they do and possibly the best! My sincere thanks to everyone at NADRA who helped make this possible.
36 comments:
Very useful information.
Thank You....with this you seem to be following the important objective of your blog: informative, interesting and helpful.
Hey Thanks for the information, jusat wondering can I am pakistani born and a US citizen and my spouse is Indian born US citizen,so do you think I can a card for her, Also do you know if the Indian Gov has any system as such so we don't have to worry about getting Visas. ONCE AGAIN SORRY FOR THE QUESTIONS AND GREAT INFORMATION.You can post a reply on your blog
Hi how do i get attestation when no one in my family has NICOP from NADRA?
Pakistani embassy is useless....
Yes, you can get a NICOP for your spouse if she is an Indian national. I know several people back in Karachi who have done that successfully, they got NIC, CNIC & Passports for their wives. Getting similar identity documents for male nationals from India could be an issue, but not for females. Related details are here: http://www.nadra.gov.pk/site/452/default.aspx
You don't need to find someone with NICOP to attest your application, that person can be a CNIC (equivalent to NICOP) holder residing back in Pakistan or anywhere in the world. Just find anyone in your family, relatives, friends or extended family/relatives. Related info is here: http://www.nadra.gov.pk/site/452/default.aspx
Good job Amir! I was just about to start research for this. Great timing.
Amir ,
Very Informative information...thanks....I have a question ...I want NICOP for my 3 children born in Uk...Can I do it on the net just like you did yours..My husband and I both have NICOP.
Thanks
good job amir bhai!!!
Yes, you can apply for your children if they are born in UK and you currently live in UK as well. Here is a list of all countries whose residents can apply for NICOP online: http://www.nadra.gov.pk/ECountries.aspx
Thanks for this very informative and useful post. I had one question: once your application was completed and paid for, how long was your application in each stage of processing?
Thanks a lot...really helped
Former Dallas resident now living in Sydney
Stage 1 took one day, it was 'Data Entry Completed & Approved' on the day of submission. Stage 2 took most of the time, it was 'Printed' after 12 days of submission. Stage 3 took the rest (7 days) when it was actually 'Dispatched'. I got it the next day after it was dispatched or shipped thru DHL.
Right when we needed it.
This has been very helpful.
Thank you!
Former Irving, TX resident.
Are you sure about calling NADRA's call center number from the US? I've been trying to dial "011-92-111-786-100" but keep getting an error message ("your international call could not be completed as dialed; please check the number").
Perhaps this number isn't accessible from the US?
Amir bhai... it's K. Shar and Afat
Very interesting and detailed information. I really appreciate your effort.
One correction the NADRA's call center number is 0092-51-111-786-100 with area code 51.
The call agents are very helpful and try to answer your questions very patiently.
I am amazed by such kind of fast and efficient service in Pakistan.
It is very helpful for people going to apply for NICOP. I wanted to know the time interval from dispatch to delivery.I got my answer. Thanks for your time and efforts.
Fareed (NED Grad 1999)
Calgary
I am going to Pakistan soon with my twin daughters and applied for their nicops in start of December, i received mine within two weeks time and thought same will happen for them but it didn't work coz my husband's status in his nicop was single plus one of my babies docs are not too clear and someone helped me do it but that friend left for pak and i am in too much problem 'coz i won't have any place to live and still didn't get my babies nicops. What is the quickest way to get it or how long will it take to get their visas now?? i mean i applied for nicops thinking that i am spending 100 dollars for both and now i will end up spending more 300 dollars .. seriously no one can imagine what am i going through right now..i even spoke to farhad jhangir and he was tellling me the same thing i mean common .. its nothing for him... please help me solve this problem and because i can't even go take their pics again n do all the paper work for visa 'coz i only have 20 days left to do alot more stuff .. i mean taking care of twins all myself and paper work and the list is never ending..and if i decide to gp without NICOPS ( i mean i have registered them with pakistani embassy already and somewhere on the interent said that if i have registered them with paksitani embassy i do not need nicop( which is a lie but i m jus beleiving it for no reason) what will happen?? i mean i have nicop and i have their form #s and everthing ... should i take that risk going to pakistan without visas or nicops or i shouldn't ?? but i think thats my last option in this though situation..please reply sooner
thanks
As I see here are your options (I am not a lawyer or claim to be an expert in these legal matters, so take it with this disclaimer and thus of course you bear the full resposibility of your actions, I am just trying to be helpful):
1. You can apply to change the marital status of your husband on his NICOP. The steps are the same as in my blog, just choose the 'Change' option in dropdown when you get to the "App. St. (Application Station/Type)" step. I have mentioned this in my blog there. After the status change, they will automatically process your daughters' applications for NICOP. You can send them an e-mail as well as a follow up at: nicop@nadra.gov.pk to verify this option. It can take 2 weeks max or may be more depending on the complexity of your case and efficiency of NADRA staff handling your request. Cost would be US $36 total (NICOP, Shipping & Credit Card Processing charges) .. or ..
2. Get the Pakistani Visa stamped on your daughters' passports. Duration: 5 business days, Cost: 120 per visa, a total of 240, plus mail cost as well which you will have to pay. They have not listed any urgent Visa option here: http://www.pakistan-embassy.org/consa8.php, so call them to ask about that.
3. The option which you are thinking about is NOT possible legally. You cannot take American Citizens out of US without showing the proof that you can go to anotehr country, in your case, the airlines ticketing/booking agent will ask you to show the NICOP for your daughters or Pakistani Visa on their respective passports. Without which you won't get tickets for your daughters to board the aircraft. Similarly at any airport in Pakistan after your landing, the FIA Inspector will also ask for the same documents, you can run into problems there as well by not having a NICOP or Pakistani Visa on their passports. BUT first of all you won't be able to leave US without these documents. So as I see it, you have only 2 options as described above.
Hope this helps!
I guess she can endorse children on her own Pakistani passport(if she has one) that make them Paksitani national hence not requiring visa at Pakistan port!
I applied for 3 NICOPs including our son online, two of the cards arrived within 2 weeks, but NICOP for my son taking forever, lot of chase up emails, chat, calls, apparently there was technical thing that stopped changing its status further from "Data Entry Completed" with my chase up calls they changed the status to printed somehow now but hasnt posted it yet! so i have no option left but to get visa for him on comming trip to Pak, visa fee here is uk for Dual nationals is almost half if someone has pakistani passport even an expired one, I paid £15 for my son visa and got it on the same day.
If nicop arrive, well and good otherwise i have visa in case for him.
hope this also help others. here, but Amir good guide you have written, well done!
thanks alot for all the possible options. I seriously was gonna get the visas.. i mean one costs 100 dollars in Canada, so another 200 dollar but today i jus came to ask if i could endorse them on my Pakistani passport and i got the answer, so here is the situation now 25th is my fight and i need to renew my pakistani passport now and get them endorsed plus get my husband's name on it so how lond does it take or should i go with the visas?? and plus do i need a letter from my husband regarding me taking the babies'coz he is not going, plus is there a 20 dollars charge for renewing the pakistan passport so would it be 20 dollars for each thing that i do i mean endorsment of childern, renewing, endorsment of husband's name?? or is it jus one charge??? i mean if i don't mind paying for each thing even if i have to 'coz its way better than paying 200 dollars for visas and its valid for 3 to six months.. i wish i knew all this from before.. i paid for my nicop for no reason, this toronto consalte is not helping at all. they won't answer any of your questions properly. Please answer soon so i could get my stuff done on Monday and get over this tension. And Do i have enough time to get the pakistani passport?? thanx alot
You will need to contact the Pakistani Consulate in Toronto somehow (full contact info is here: http://www.pakmission.ca/toronto_consulate.htm) to get more info on charges and processing time. On this page: http://www.pakmission.ca/consularservices.htm, they have listed all the processes with forms and requirements. I would say let's make sure you have a letter from your husband allowing you to take your children to Pakistan on your trip, that won't hurt, will surely help if someone asks for it. I have talked to different people in Pakistani consulates and embassy here in US, I was able to talk to them in Urdu and English both, they answered my questions as well. You can try the consulates in other Canadian cities as well (their contact info is listed here: http://www.pakmission.ca/contactus.htm), if you are having problems in getting hold of someone in Toronto consulate. Hope this helps!
Good work brother. One thing i want to correct in ur blog. Which is delivery timings. DHL takes 3 business days from nadra to here. I confirmed this information with dhl and CEO of nadra. The only ways u get next day delivery from dhl when u have a buisness mail or something otherwise is not possible. One more thing nadra system doesn't update everyday so u can't ur dispatch process took 7 days it might took 4 days and rest time spent on delivering to u.
Let me tell all of u my experience with nadra. I applied online for nicop 3 weeks ago. First of all it took 3 days to process payment and stuff during this time i called them twice and request them to get this form done as soon as possible. I got it approved by QOC after 10 time calling them and they send to data verfication. It took all the time in the world i called every day every department of nadra. I find out that there is system is down from last one week. Then when system came back they send it for printing. I called printing department the person who is head of department told me. Its not so easy to print card it takes time first we have to recive and then print and then leminate and then check if it looks good or not and then quality check and then final control check and then we send it to dispatch this card and this process will take atleast 5 to 10 days. A simple thing printing take 5 to 10 days. The worse department of nadra is printing. They r way to rude. They will act like u r asking them for money. Guys seriously goverment employees all over the world are same. THE ALL R LAZY. Now i have flight one day after i get my us passport. A Terrible experience with nadra. Here are some number for u guys.
Information department for checking status:
01192-51-9208606
01192-51-9204828
01192-51-90392915
01192-51-90391642
01192-51-90391117 complaint department
CEO and other Biggies
01192-51-9215555
01192-51-90391715
01192-51-90391915
Printing Department
01192-51-90391354
01192-51-90391355
01192-51-9204412 Never Call This guy.
Take Care PeoPleS. Wish Me LucK.
Allah Hafiz
Great information and very well explained. One quick questions: I'm applying NICOP for my newly born daugther. What do I upload in the signature image field. I understand the thumb expression has to be hers but what about signature. I guess it's not a required thing for child application.
Irfan,
You can just write her name in your own hand writing on a piece of paper and then scan it and upload it in that field. That's what I did and had no issues. Though when my daughter's NICOP arrived, the signature field was empty (left blank).
Oh thank you for posting this stuff! its great! however, i was wondering, is there a separate option where you pick home delivery, or do they automatically assume home delivery when u fill out ur home address?
No, there is no separate place/section where you specify your delivery preferences. They deliver it to your 'Present Address' as you can see under 'Addr. (Present/Permanent Address)' section in my blog post. Take a look at the screenshot there, at the bottom of that they are talking about 'Home Delivery'. So, yes, its implied that you want your cards delivered at your 'Present Address', which is most probably going to be your home address as it establishes your residency in a particular country and thus they are talking about which countries they can deliver the cards to and the ones where they can't deliver.
Thank you Amir for the useful info. I was very excited about registering online on NADRA website today but when i clicked on the NICOP link, it says that they are temporarily closed for online NICOP application. I will keep on checking everyday..
Adnan Q
I have one quick question. WHen we scan the passport personal info page, is that the one with my name and father's name and my CNIC #? So i do'nt need to scan the second page which has my pakistan home address, my picture and thumb imression and date of expiry?
adnanq
Adnanq,
Yep, you are right, that's the page, the first one with your name and other important particulars.
Dear Amir: Thanks for your great efforts and spending your time in helping out others (out of the way) especially providing links for contact info/more info.
I just read the following from Nadra’s ‘Apply Online’ web page (http://www.nadra.gov.pk/apponline.html) i.e. "NICOP/POC Online Application Service is Closed Permanently". Furthermore, the same web page has a dead link for 'Apply Online'.
If the NICOP/POC service is closed permanently, I am wondering why the most Pakistani consulates/embassies still asking to apply online? And why still Nadra’s web-site has links/info about how to apply online and what is required to apply online? I guess lack of communication; I believe now it’s over four weeks they closed the online service.
Last but not the least, why the good online service is closed PERMANENTLY, is it online security/ privacy issues or government red tape? Just wondering????
Najeeb,
Yep, I got to know about it recently as well. A blog post linked below says (see 'Comments' section) it was due to 'Credit Card Fraud', seems possible though not verified. http://smacula.blogspot.com/2009/01/nicop-overseas-pakistani-card.html .. If correct, it's another proof of the ingenuity of our fellow Pakistanis.
The nadra.gov.pk website does not have any links on the left (unlike your screenshots), can you still apply for NICOP online? Even the PDF form for NICOP application is not accessible (error: 403 forbidden).
Hello Amir,
Great website, I just like to know that can I apply for my whole family at the same time? none of us have it at this time, we are looking to travel in Feb, 2010 to Karachi..Please advice.
Thanks
Aatif Hussain
Broker associate
Orange county, California
IMPORTANT: NADRA HAS DISCONTINUED THE ONLINE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR NICOP. YOU WILL HAVE TO NOW APPLY THRU YOUR LOCAL PAKISTANI EMBASSY IN THE COUNTRY OF YOUR RESIDENCE.
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