KAMPALA, Uganda — As Ugandans begin the anticipated transition to the new, upgraded high-tech National Identification cards, the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has issued clear guidelines regarding the status of expired identity documents.
Addressing public concerns, NIRA Registrar Claire Olama clarified that citizens will not be stripped of their old cards during the issuance process.
Instead, the authority has adopted an administrative protocol to invalidate the old documents while ensuring they remain in the owner’s possession for record-keeping.
The collection process
Ms. Olama expressed enthusiasm for the rollout, noting that the wait for the upgraded technology is finally over.
“What we for long prayed for, what we registered and hoped to get, was our new, beautiful, new-tech cards. Now it’s time to begin to pick them up,” Olama said.
She explained that the collection process relies heavily on the old card for initial verification before biometric data is used to finalize the handover.
“When you come, you need your old card to identify you. We look at it, we check if you’re the one, and once we find that your card is ready, we ask you to provide your biometric, your fingerprints or your iris, so that we complete the process and issue your new National ID.”
The ‘hole punch’ rule
A critical part of the new regulation involves how the old cards are treated.
Ms. Olama emphasized that NIRA officers will apply a specific “administrative mark” to the old ID to signal that its document number is no longer active, but the card itself will not be confiscated.
“This old card remains your document, and you will still take it home. However, the NIRA officer must put an administrative mark in the form of a single punch on a blank corner that does not have data. Make sure the officer does not punch your barcode because we need your old card for posterity. It must remain readable,” she instructed.
Also Read: Step-by-step guide to using NIRA’s new online portal for national ID registration and renewal
This precise method ensures that while the card is technically expired, its historical data and identification features remain intact for the owner’s archives.
“After that, you walk away with two cards—one very clean, with no mark on it, and the old one with an invalidation mark in one corner that does not compromise its readability,” Ms. Olama added.
Call for patience and order
As distribution centers nationwide prepare for high traffic, NIRA has appealed to the public to maintain order.
“Happy card picking. I hope we will be people of decorum. We will line up, we will be patient, and as NIRA, we promise you that everybody who asks will get feedback from us about their application, and we shall all get national IDs,” Ms. Olama said.
NIRA continues to issue the new generation cards at designated centers across the country.
