THE consulate of Pakistan and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) team visited the Belfast Multicultural Association on the Springfield Road last week.
The team headed by Masood Qureshi (Pakistan Consulate Officer) and Syed Imran Haider (Deputy Director Nadra Pakistan) travelled from Glasgow and Manchester to visit the Springfield Road-based group.
Asim Sattar from the BMCA explained that at present there are no branches in Ireland to facilitate the Pakistani community and many desperate overseas Pakistanis felt relieved when they found out that BMCA would hosting the NADRA team.
Ali Khan, chairperson at the BMCA added: "The NADRA team arrived to BMCA to provide the process needed to obtain the National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) which is issued to citizens of Pakistan who are residing abroad and are national of a country which has a dual nationality arrangement with Pakistan. Without this the families would not be able to travel.
"Many of the applicants who were present at the NADRA surgery in Belfast at BMCA could not travel to Britain for numerous reasons, some due to health issues and some due to the increasing costs of travel to Britain.
"With the NADRA team arriving at BMCA they were given full assistance in the applications, biometrics and attestation needs. Many had travelled from the South of Ireland.The team helped many who otherwise would not have been able to travel to their homeland city.
"More importantly one of the requirements for the ID card was the physical presence of the applicant which is mandatory in the NADRA Office for live photo and biometrics."
Ali finished by saying that the NADRA team officials were also thankful to the warm welcome they received at the International Airport and also in West Belfast at BMCA.
