ISLAMABAD - In what appears to be a quick fix, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has started issuance of family registration certificate (FRC) on simple A4 size paper without any special or security features, The Nation has learnt.
The authority was using security paper for issuance of FRC before November 10, 2015 and afterwards the change took place.
The officials of Interior Ministry said the decision to print FRC on simple paper was taken in a bid to facilitate Pakistani citizens living within the country and abroad. They said the overseas Pakistanis faced difficulties in acquiring FRC from NADRA as it used to be issued on security paper which was not available at NADRA registration centres abroad. In a recent communiqué, NADRA has intimated all the ministries, departments and organizations as well as diplomatic missions in Pakistan to treat new FRC as an authentic official document. However, it has also been informed that the FRC issued before November 10, 2015 are also valid.
The recent public communique came forward in the wake of the complaints received from people across the country facing difficulties as the Foreign Office was declining to attest the FRC on simple paper.
“The Foreign Office in Lahore refused to attest the FRC during my visa process,” Aisha Khan, a citizen of Lahore, launched a complaint with NADRA headquarters Islamabad after several failed attempts for attestation of FRC.
She said NADRA had resolved the issue by issuing the public communiqué for Foreign Office and diplomatic missions in Pakistan.
Another citizen, Rizwan from Multan, also faced the same situation and he could not get his family’s FRC attested from the Foreign Office. It is pertinent to mention here that NADRA has changed the design of FRC and encrypted security features in new FRC being printed on simple paper. Like CNIC, National Identity Card for overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) and Pakistan Origin Card (POC), the new FRC can be submitted, obtained and verified through the website.