National Database and Registration Authority has introduced a free iris scan service at all its registration centres across Pakistan, aiming to strengthen identity records and improve biometric verification nationwide. The authority said citizens can visit their nearest registration centre and use the facility free of charge, with no fee attached to the new service.
NADRA has also urged parents to bring children aged three and above for iris registration, extending the biometric enrollment process to younger citizens well before they become eligible for a Computerized National Identity Card. The iris scan system works by capturing the unique patterns of a person’s iris to verify identity, adding another layer of biometric authentication alongside the fingerprint and facial recognition methods already in use across the authority’s identity verification infrastructure.
The move builds on NADRA’s earlier rollout of iris recognition technology at select mega centres in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi, which was gradually expanded toward full nationwide coverage across the authority’s registration network. It also follows a formal amendment to Pakistan’s National Identity Card Rules that recognized facial and iris scans as valid biometric identifiers alongside fingerprints, providing the legal foundation for wider use of these verification methods across NADRA’s services, including contactless fingerprint and facial recognition systems already active on the Pak ID mobile application.
NADRA said the expanded iris scan initiative will make identity verification more secure, accurate, and reliable, adding that the growing biometric database will help protect citizens’ records from misuse and fraud while making future verification processes faster and more efficient. The initiative adds to a broader pattern of biometric modernization at NADRA, which has steadily expanded its multi biometric verification system in recent years to include contactless fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, and now nationwide iris registration across its network of registration centres.
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