Afghan identity card

Afghan Tazkira (Dari: تابعیت تذکره) (Pashto: د تابعیت تذکره)
Type	National identity card
Issued by	Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Purpose	Identification
Eligibility	National of Afghanistan

The Afghan Tazkira (Dari: تابعیت تذکره; Pashto: د تابعیت تذکره) is an official national identity document issued to every national and citizen of Afghanistan, including a member of the Afghan diaspora around the world.^[1][2][3][4]

The document is used to obtain an electronic Afghan identity card (e-Tazkira), which is valid for up to 10 years and required for many things such as employment, registering in school, operating a business, buying or renting a house, opening a bank account, sending or receiving money through Western Union, purchasing a SIM card, obtaining a passport, booking airline tickets, staying in hotels, etc. The documents serve as proof of identity and residency but more importantly Afghan nationality. Both the Tazkira certificate and e-Tazkira are issued by the National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA), which has offices by the name of Asan Khedmat (Easy Services) in various provinces of Afghanistan.^[5][6][7]

The Afghan Tazkira, which is older than 100 years,^[8] has been modernized in recent years. The e-Tazkira campaign was officially launched in Kabul in May of 2018 when then-President Ashraf Ghani and First Lady Rula Ghani received their smart cards. Distribution of the modern Tazkiras later began in other parts of Afghanistan. The e-Tazkira complies with international standards for identity documents.^[9] As of January 2025, over fifteen million people of Afghanistan have obtained their e-Tazkiras.^[10][11] This includes the Afghans that are temporarily residing in Iran and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).^[12][3] The Afghan citizens that are temporarily residing in Pakistan are also issued special documents by Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.^[13] In May 2022, the Government of Afghanistan announced that it will start issuing Tazkira certificates with a new design bearing the emblem of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.^[14]

In order to obtain a Tazkira, an application must be prepared and filed with the NSIA.^[15] The processing fee is 500 afghanis, which is the equivalent of around $7 US dollars.^[16] The Tazkira certificate and e-Tazkira are both issued by the NSIA.^[17] Evidence that the applicant is in fact a national and citizen of Afghanistan is required.^[4] This can be proven by providing older Afghan Tazkira along with family and relatives appearing as witnesses, and they must also have valid e-Tazkiras or passports. Applicants below the age of 18 years must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians before the application can be submitted.^[18] The e-Tazkira can only be issued after the entire verification and biometrics process is completed. In some cases this requires multiple trips to the main NSIA office in Kabul.^[19]

The e-Tazkira is a polycarbonate smart card, about 86 × 54 millimeters in size.^[20] On the front is the bearer's photo along with personal information, which is in Dari and Pashto languages. On the back is a gold-plated contact chip, and to the right is the bearer's smaller photo, with some of the bearer's personal information in English.

At the top of the current e-Tazkira is written the following:

1. Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Dari: جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان; Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت)
   
2. National Statistics and Information Authority (Dari: اداره ملی احصائیه و معلومات; Pashto: د احصایې او معلوماتو ملي اداره)
   
3. Citizenship ID (Dari: تابعیت تذکره; Pashto: د تابعیت تذکره)
   

The descriptions of the fields on the e-Tazkira are printed in Dari, Pashto, and English language,^[8] and include the following personal information:

• National identification number (13 digits as follows: 0000-0000-00000)
• Given name (with surname in quotation marks on the front and in capital letters on the back)
• Father's full name
• Grandfather's full name
• Date of birth
• Date of issue
• Date of expiry (up to 10 years)
• Place of birth
• Place of origin
• Place of current residence
• Religion
• Nationality
• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Holder's signature (optional)

A machine readable zone is printed on the bottom of the back-side of the card.^[21]

• Afghan passport
• Afghan nationality law
• List of national identity card policies by country

• در توزیع تذکره‌های برقی تسهیلات فراهم شده است on YouTube (Dari)
• د برېښنایي پېژندپاڼو وېش کې اسانتیاوې رامنځته شوې on YouTube (Pashto)
• Afghanistan: Tazkera, passports and other ID documents (May 22, 2019)