Do you wish to request a national ID card?
If you do, then join us to discuss how you can apply for a national ID card here in Nigeria. Not just that, but it includes NIN registration requirements.
Nigerian National ID Card Application Requirements And Process
The national identification card is one of the legal documents issued by the Nigerian government to its legal nationals. Once you are up to 16 years of age and older, you are legible to apply for NIN, though minors too can be enrolled.
Registration for the national ID card occurs once in a lifetime.
Basic Demands for National ID card
Only one of these documents is required of you when you wish to enroll in NIN.
These include voter’s card, birth certificate, declaration of age, Nigerian international passport, tax clearance certificate, NHIS ID card, school ID card, valid migration ID documents, driver’s license, and even the old national ID.
Where Do I Sign Up for a National ID Card?
The Nigerian government has several check-in centers throughout the country. You can find them at the local government or state headquarters, which are mainly situated in the state capital.
The check-in is done free of charge, without any kind of fee, and they open during working days.
National ID Application Tips
As stated above, 16-year-old Nigerians are considered adults when it comes to applying for a national ID card.
In this regard, the enrollment process for adults is different from that for minors, that is, children under the indicated adult age.
Regardless of your category, you will soon learn how to proceed with the application process.
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Adult application
Here are some guidelines in which Nigerians above the age of 16 and above can apply for a national ID card in any of the registration centers across the nation.
- Visit one of the NIMC registration centers in your locality with one of the required documents we have mentioned earlier.
- The check will be carried out on the NIN portal, make sure that you have not registered previously. Once the verification is completed and they are sure you haven’t registered before, that’s when you can proceed with the registration.
- An application form shall be issued by the officer in charge. You must fill in your data after which you authenticate with your signature. You can also fill in the form online, via the pre-registration portal and download the sheet.
- Once you are done with filling the form either manually or the printout, you are required to attach a copy of your government-issued document and then forward it to the registration officer.
- The officer checks your application form and the attached document to ensure that they are in order.
- Upon successful verification, the Registration Agent will enter your information into NIMC Registration Portal. Once the officer has completed the imputation, you will be asked to verify whether your data is correctly imputed in the system. If you are satisfied with it, then you can go further. But if you would like to make some adjustments, this is another opportunity.
- At this point, your biometry and face image will be captured. In the cause of capturing, ten of your fingerprints will be required to complete your capture.
- Upon successful capture, you will receive proof of transactions in the form of a slip. But this is no national identity card. This slip is the one you will use on the day you collect your national ID document.
- You will need to be patient as it will take 1-5 working days to process and print your national ID.
- It is now time to go back to the enrollment office and collect your national ID slip.
Why Slip Instead of a card?
Quite a lot of people will be asking, why issuing a slip instead of a card? This is because it will take on average 12 months before an e-ID card can be issued to applicants.
You may also ask, why this long? The government is doing so to avoid issuing ID cards for foreign nationals in Nigeria. As such, they take a period of time to verify the whole process.
National ID Application Tips for Minors
The process to get a national ID card for a minor is not as cumbersome as an adult. In this regard, parents and guardians with children under the age of 16 should follow the guidelines set out below.
- A parent or guardian is required to bring their national ID card to any NIMC registration center in their community.
- Secondly, you have to prove that you are the guardian or parent of the minor by issuing a valid document to support your claim.
- A consanguineous document will be required of the minor in the enrollment process. Otherwise, an age declaration can be accepted.
- Once these requirements are established, the registration for national ID begins as the precedent we have described above.
What About Nigeria’s Overseas Residents?
Nigeria has taken steps to ensure that legal nationals of the country, both adults and minors living in the Diaspora can apply for their national ID cards. How?
The government licensed several companies in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the United States. All you need to do is visit their website and submit your request.
Some of the Nigerian authorized companies include Biosec Solutions Limited, Defcon System Limited/IOS Services, Dantata Universal Services/FVS Global, CHAMS Consortium Limited, and many more.
You might be wondering how biometrics and facial capture will be feasible.
Don’t worry, these companies got you covered. They have partners in the countries where they operate, so they can supply them with your biometric capture using their technical equipment.
Besides, they have permission to perform such a transaction by the NIMC.
Since it is not the Nigerian government that is doing the registration, these licensed companies will charge you a registration fee. Therefore, the Nigerian Diaspora should take note of this.
So those are essentially the steps you can go through to get a national ID in Nigeria. Not only those but even Nigerians living abroad can use the information provided and request their national ID card.