NADRA B-Form Requirements: Documents, Fee and the New Three Stage System

NADRA's B-Form requirements are shorter than most guides make them. The authority's own page names one document, a computerised birth certificate from the union council, municipal committee or cantonment, and one rule on attendance: a child aged 3 or over must come to the centre. The B-Form now comes in three stages that expire at ages 3, 10 and 18, it costs Rs 50 on normal processing, and a new one can be started from home in the PakID app.

A school admissions clerk asks for the B-Form, a passport counter asks for the "new" B-Form, and a parent who did this three years ago wonders what changed. Quite a lot did. We read NADRA's Child Registration Certificate page and its fee schedule on 17 September 2026, and the rules on them are different from what this page said in August, so the whole thing has been rewritten around the authority's wording.

The first correction is ours. The previous version of this page built everything on a one year cutoff, online under one and in person from one. NADRA's page sets the cutoff at 3 years, and the NADRA B-Form requirement on attendance follows from that age, not from one.

What is a NADRA B-Form and who must have one?

The B-Form is NADRA's Child Registration Certificate, the CRC. NADRA's page describes the CRC and the Juvenile Card as the identity documents issued to children under 18 under Rule 18 of the NADRA (NIC) Rules 2002, and says they serve as the child's first registration in the NADRA database and prove the child's identity and relationship with the parents or legal guardian.

Every Pakistani under 18 is meant to have one. NADRA's eligibility text is blunt about it: under Rule 18(1), every citizen who has not reached 18 "shall be registered" with NADRA under Section 9 of the NADRA Ordinance 2000. In practice the B-Form is asked for at school admission, board examination registration, a child's passport and any bank or inheritance matter that needs to link a child to a parent.

Two documents get confused with it. A birth certificate from the union council records that the birth happened and is issued by local government, not NADRA; the difference is set out in getting a birth certificate in Pakistan. The Juvenile Card is NADRA's own card format version of the same registration, with the same biometrics rules, which the authority now lists beside the CRC on one page.

What are the NADRA B-Form requirements?

NADRA lists three requirements on its CRC page, and only one of them is a document. That surprises people who arrive with a folder. Here is the list as the authority publishes it, then what centres ask for on top.

• A Computerised Birth Registration Certificate issued by the union council, municipal committee or cantonment board for a birth in Pakistan. For a birth abroad, a detailed birth certificate or the S-1 form from the Pakistani mission.
• The child's presence is mandatory for a CRC when the child is above 3 years of age, and for every Juvenile Card.
• A child up to 3 needs to attend only if the CRC is being processed for a passport, because a photograph then has to go on it.

Parents' CNICs are not on that list, but do not read that as optional. The PakID app asks for the parent's CNIC number to open the application, according to Dunya News's report of 13 April 2026, and centres verify the parent at the counter. Take both parents' original CNICs. Where one parent cannot be there, NADRA's FAQ headings show it has a rule for it, "Can a CRC be issued if only one parent is available?", and we could not read the answer, so ask the centre before travelling.

The birth certificate is the part that fails most often. NADRA's own FAQ list includes "Can a CRC be issued if the child's birth is not registered with the Union Council?" and "What if the date of birth in the CRC differs from the Union Council birth certificate?", which tells you exactly what the counter checks. Register the birth first, then apply, and make sure the date and the spelling on that certificate are the ones you want on every document after it.

How does the new NADRA B-Form system work?

The new system is a set of three age brackets, each with its own biometrics and its own expiry, and it is now printed on NADRA's website rather than only reported. A B-Form issued at birth stops being valid when the child turns 3; the next one runs to 10; the third runs to 18, when the CNIC takes over.

That table is copied from the "Biometric Capturing and Expiry" section on NADRA's CRC page. The page also shows two specimen certificates, one for children below 3 and one for children aged 3 to 18, which is the visible difference: the older bracket carries a photograph.

How did it get here? Geo News reported on 1 January 2025 that the federal government had decided to make fingerprints and photographs mandatory on the B-Form of children aged 10 to 18, with issuance from 15 January 2025 and NADRA working alongside the passport department. ProPakistani reported on 7 April 2026 that NADRA had introduced the three stage system with a separate B-Form at each stage, and Dunya News and The Nation reported on 13 April 2026 that applications could be made from home through PakID. NADRA's page now carries all of it, dated as last updated on 7 July 2026.

Is an old B-Form still valid? For its bracket, yes, until the expiry age is reached. But an old form without a photograph will not do for a passport, and NADRA said on 10 September 2026, as reported by ARY News and Pakistan Observer, that a child whose B-Form lacks a photograph and fingerprints has no biometrics on record, so a first time CNIC at 18 can only be filed from the PakID app once those have been captured. The practical rule: a child of 10 or over with a photo-less B-Form needs a new one before the passport or the CNIC, not after.

What does a NADRA B-Form cost?

Rs 50 on normal processing, delivered in 7 days, or Rs 500 on executive processing in 1 day. NADRA's fee schedule lists the CRC under "all categories", meaning a new form, a renewal at a stage change, a correction and a reprint all sit on the same line, and there is no urgent tier between the two.

Those figures are from nadra.gov.pk/feeStructure, read on 17 September 2026, and they match what we read directly on 18 August 2026 for every NADRA document fee. Websites quoting 21 to 30 days for a normal B-Form are not reading the schedule. Fifty rupees is also the scale to keep in mind when an agent outside the centre quotes thousands: the certificate is not what they are charging for.

How do you apply for a B-Form through the PakID app?

PakID is NADRA's official mobile app, and NADRA's CRC page publishes a seven step process for it. The app opens the application and takes the documents and payment; whether you also need to visit a centre depends on the child's age bracket, because biometrics cannot be captured on a phone.

1. Download PakID from Google Play or the App Store, then create an account or sign in with the parent's CNIC.
2. Select "New Juvenile Card", which is the label NADRA uses for the CRC application in the app.
3. Fill in the details: the child's name, date of birth, gender and address, and the parents' particulars.
4. Upload the computerised birth certificate, or the mission's birth certificate or S-1 form for a birth abroad.
5. Pay the fee in the app.
6. Visit a NADRA Registration Centre if required. NADRA's wording is that biometric verification and the photograph "may require" a visit, and its own table says they are required from age 3.
7. Track the application in the app, and download the certificate when it is issued.

So who really finishes at home? A child under 3 whose B-Form is not for a passport. That child needs no biometrics and no photograph, so there is nothing for a centre to capture. For everyone else the app saves the form filling and the queue, not the trip. Tracking from the app or by SMS works the same way as for any NADRA application, and the codes are in tracking a NADRA application.

How do you apply at a NADRA Registration Centre?

Walk in with the child, if aged 3 or over, the computerised birth certificate and both parents' original CNICs. Choose normal or executive at the counter, pay, and the centre captures the biometrics the age bracket calls for.

Three situations where the centre is the only sensible route, whatever the app offers: a birth that was never registered with the union council, because NADRA's FAQ treats that as its own case; parents who are overseas or separated, which NADRA also lists as its own question; and a father who is a foreign national. Each is on NADRA's own FAQ list, so the counter will have a rule for it, and the documents will differ from the standard list. Ring 1777, NADRA's helpline, before travelling with a small child.

NADRA does not appoint agents and no third party has access to its system. The people outside a centre offering to "get it done in an hour" are selling the executive tier, which you can buy yourself for Rs 500.

How do you fix an error on a B-Form?

Through the "Update / Modify" service on NADRA's CRC page, at a centre or in PakID, and the correction sits on the same Rs 50 or Rs 500 fee line as everything else in the CRC category. Bring the document that proves the correct value, which for a name or date of birth means the union council birth certificate.

Corrections are far easier before the record has been copied anywhere. The name and date on the B-Form travel onto school records, then onto board registration and certificates, then onto the CNIC at 18 and the passport. A spelling chosen casually at a counter when the child is 2 becomes a mismatch on a degree at 22, and we see the downstream version at board result time and again at first CNIC application.

1. Decide the English spelling of the child's name once, and use exactly that on the birth certificate, the B-Form and the school form.
2. Check the date of birth digit by digit against the birth certificate before accepting the record. NADRA's FAQ lists a mismatch with the union council certificate as a known problem.
3. Match the father's name exactly as printed on his CNIC, including any middle name.
4. Keep the parents' NADRA records current. NADRA's FAQ asks "What happens if parents' marital status is not updated in NADRA record?", so a marriage never registered with NADRA can block a child's B-Form. The route for that is in registering a marriage with NADRA.

A child's record also appears on the parents' Family Registration Certificate, so once the B-Form is right, the family document follows it. What that certificate shows and costs is in getting a Family Registration Certificate.

What does a child need the B-Form for next?

The passport is the usual next step, and it is the one that drives most of the new rules. NADRA's own table says a child under 3 needs a photograph on the CRC only when it is being processed for a passport, and the reported September 2026 advisory says an older child needs the photograph and fingerprints version. Get the B-Form in the right bracket first, then book the passport appointment, and check every field against the parents' CNICs before you go. The passport side is in getting a passport for a child in Pakistan.

School admission and board registration take the name and date from the B-Form as they stand. And at 18, NADRA's FAQ asks what happens to the CRC; the answer we could not read, but the fee schedule gives it away, because a first CNIC on normal processing is free and is built from this record.

Common questions about NADRA B-Form requirements

What documents are required for a NADRA B-Form?

NADRA's page names one: a computerised birth registration certificate from the union council, municipal committee or cantonment, or a detailed birth certificate or S-1 form for a birth abroad. Take both parents' original CNICs as well.

What is the NADRA B-Form fee in 2026?

Rs 50 for normal processing in 7 days and Rs 500 for executive processing in 1 day, for all CRC categories, according to NADRA's fee schedule. There is no urgent tier.

What is the new NADRA B-Form system?

Three age brackets on NADRA's page: no biometrics up to 3, photograph and iris from 3 to 10, and photograph, fingerprints and iris from 10 to 18. Each B-Form expires when the child reaches the next bracket.

Can I apply for a B-Form online?

Yes, through the PakID app, which NADRA describes in seven steps. A child aged 3 or over still has to visit a centre for biometrics, so only a child under 3 can finish entirely from home.

Does a child have to be present at NADRA?

From age 3, yes, and for every Juvenile Card. A child up to 3 attends only if the B-Form is being made for a passport, because a photograph then goes on it.

Does a B-Form expire?

Yes. NADRA's table sets expiry on attaining 3, 10 and 18 years depending on the bracket, and a new form with the next set of biometrics is issued at each stage.

Is a B-Form the same as a birth certificate?

No. The birth certificate is the union council's record of the birth and is a requirement for the B-Form. The B-Form is NADRA's identity registration of the child.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 17 September 2026. We read NADRA's page "Child Registration Certificate (CRC) / Juvenile Card" at nadra.gov.pk, which carries the Biometric Capturing and Expiry table with its three age brackets, the eligibility text citing Rule 18(1) of the NADRA (NIC) Rules 2002, the requirements list naming the computerised birth registration certificate and the attendance rules, the seven step PakID process, the FAQ headings named above and the helpline 1777, and shows a last updated date of 7 July 2026. We read the fee schedule at nadra.gov.pk/feeStructure, which gives the CRC at Rs 50 in 7 days and Rs 500 in 1 day for all categories and cancellation after a death as free. Both were read through a rendering proxy because nadra.gov.pk refuses automated requests, so they corroborate rather than replace a browser read, and the FAQ answers, which load by script, could not be read; the fee figures match those read directly from the same schedule on 18 August 2026. The following are reported: the federal decision on fingerprints and photographs for children over 10 from 15 January 2025, by Geo News on 1 January 2025; NADRA's announcement of the three stage B-Form, by ProPakistani on 7 April 2026; home application through PakID, by Dunya News and The Nation on 13 April 2026; and NADRA's advisory that a child without a photograph and fingerprint B-Form has no biometrics on record, by ARY News and Pakistan Observer on 10 September 2026. The need for parents' CNICs is from that reporting and centre practice, not from NADRA's requirements list. Processing times of 21 to 30 days quoted on other sites contradict NADRA's schedule and were not used.