Uganda unveils national ID pre-enrollment portal as campaign kicks off today

The National Identification and Registration Authority of Uganda (NIRA) has launched a dedicated portal to facilitate pre-enrollment for national ID registration for first-timers as well as for renewals.

The portal went live as a planned mass registration and renewal exercise targeting at least 33 million citizens and legal residents was scheduled to get underway today May 27.

In a number of posts to its X account, NIRA has been sensitizing citizens to the availability of the pre-registration portal and how to make use of it. Pre-registration for children is also to be done online, with parents not expected to leave the conform of their homes for that activity

According to NIRA’s explanation, the online pre-registration platform has been introduced to streamline the ID application process by reducing wait times and extra costs which citizens incurred having to get their applications processed at NIRA offices.

With the portal, all those asking for national IDs for the first time and those seeking a renewal will have to submit their biographic information online, before later visiting a physical office for biometric capture or matching.

Before this novelty, both biographic and biometric information was submitted physically, which led to long queues and data entry errors, according to Nile Post.

Once an application is completed online, the applicant is issued an Application ID which will then be used as a confirmation document when the individual shows up for biometrics capture. They don’t need to print it out.

Meanwhile, it is reported that some Ugandans living in Tanzania were the first group of citizens in diaspora to register or renew their ID cards under the new national security information system (NSIS).

The activity was launched in Dar es Salaam at the close of last week in the presence of a representative of NIRA’s Executive Director, Rosemary Kisembo.

Senior Registration Officer at NIRA, Andrew Apedel, speaking for Kisembo, said as quoted, that “by Tanzania leading the way, it sets a strong precedent for other missions worldwide to adopt the new advanced platform and encourages those still using the old system to upgrade accordingly.”

Apedel presented the benefits which the second generation national digital ID system comes with, saying it will facilitate access to digital services and introduce other systems aimed at advancing Uganda’s digital transformation efforts.

The launch of the mass ID registration and renewal for the diaspora took place on the heels of the 1^st Uganda Diaspora Convention which took place May 23 in Tanzania, and featured presentations and discussions on the role of the new generation ID and how it can contribute to enhancing regional integration.

As the mass ID registration and renewal gets underway, NIRA has called on citizens, including students who have reached the age of 16, to make sure they register for a new national ID card.

Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  legal identity  |  national ID  |  National Identification and Registration Authority of Uganda (NIRA)  |  Uganda