On the instructions of Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, it was decided on Wednesday to introduce Form-B with the special security features for children above the age of ten for the first time in history.

Under the security features, fingerprints and photographs of children above the age of ten have been made a mandatory part of Form-B. The issuance of special Form-B (registration certificate) will be done in phases from January 15.

On the directions of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), in collaboration with the Passport Department, has announced the inclusion of fingerprints and photographs of children above the age of 10 in Form-B.

The Interior Minister said that these steps will help prevent theft and misuse of children’s identity information and these steps will prove helpful in preventing crimes like fake identity cards of children, illegal passports and human trafficking.

He congratulated Chairman NADRA, Director General Immigration and Passports and the entire team for introducing reforms in Form-B in a short period of time. According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior, in the first phase, fingerprints and photographs of children above the age of 10 and below the age of 18 will be taken at the NADRA center from January 15.

These children must be accompanied by one of the parents or legal guardians and they must also bring their computerized national identity card and the child’s computerized birth certificate issued by the union council or town committee.

After necessary action in NADRA, a Form-B with the child’s photograph will be issued. According to a spokesperson, children above the age of 10 and below the age of 18 will have to submit a Form-B with fingerprints and a photograph issued by NADRA while applying for a new passport.

While the old Form-B, which does not include a photograph and fingerprints, will not be acceptable for children of the above age group. Parents or legal guardians should obtain a new B-Form with a photograph and fingerprints of a child above the age of 10 from NADRA.

The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports will verify the child’s photograph and fingerprints from the NADRA database while processing the passport application.

The spokesperson said that further reforms will be introduced in the next stages, facilities for obtaining iris scans, photographs and fingerprints will be provided in the Union Council.

According to the spokesperson Ministry of Interior, steps will be taken to integrate NADRA’s identification system with the Civil Registration Management System of the provinces.

Steps will be taken to ensure better services on NADRA’s Pak ID mobile app and digital IDs will be issued to all Pakistani citizens.