National ID card in Nepal: apply, find your NIN, download the eNID

Any Nepali citizen aged 16 or over with a citizenship certificate. Minors, non-resident Nepalis and foreign residents are in a later phase and cannot enrol yet.

Enrolment is free, and the department's citizen charter says it is done the same day when every document is in order. Collecting the card is free. A replacement for a lost or damaged card is Rs 500.

1. 1Pre-enrol online at enrollment.donidcr.gov.np. Log in with your mobile number, enter your details as they appear in your citizenship, and book an appointment for the biometrics. Use a mobile number you will keep — the OTP for your eNID goes to it.
2. 2Print one copy of the filled form.
3. 3Go to the office on your date — the District Administration Office, an Area Administration Office with a National ID station, or your ward during a campaign — with the printout and your original documents.
4. 4Give your biometrics: ten fingerprints, both irises, a photograph and a digital signature, taken there. You must attend in person; the office keeps copies and returns your originals.
5. 5Note your NIN. At a District or Area office it is issued on the spot; at a ward campaign it comes later by SMS.

• Your original citizenship certificate.
• A migration (basai sarai) certificate, if your present address differs from the one in your citizenship.
• If you are married: your spouse's name should be in your citizenship; if it is not, a marriage registration or relationship certificate.
• Proof of date of birth if your citizenship does not show it — a birth registration, an education certificate, a passport or a pension paper.
• Originals only: the department does not accept photocopies, or papers that are corrected or torn.

The National Identity Number is ten digits and never changes, even if your details are corrected later. If you enrolled at a ward campaign and no SMS came, send N <your application number> to 30001, or call 01-5970449.

Lost the number? The citizen portal's Download eNID page is also how you find it: the department's notice of 2083/03/04 says it takes your name (Nepali or English), your date of birth and the date your citizenship was issued — not your citizenship number.

1. 1Open citizenportal.donidcr.gov.np → Download eNID.
2. 2Enter your full name in Nepali and in English, your date of birth in BS, the issue date of your citizenship, and the captcha.
3. 3Type the six-digit OTP sent to the mobile number registered at enrolment.
4. 4Open the PDF. The password is the first four letters of your English name in capitals, followed by your BS birth year — Ramesh, born 2050-01-01, opens it with RAME2050.

On the citizen portal, Check NID Card Status takes your request number (RSN) or your NIN. When the card is printed you get an SMS; collect it where you enrolled, in person — your fingerprint is checked before it is handed over.

• A correction is made at a District or Area Administration Office station. Your NIN stays the same.
• A lost or damaged card: apply at the District or Area office for a copy and pay Rs 500 — at a Rastriya Banijya Bank branch, or online on the citizen portal.
• False details are an offence under the Act: two to five years in prison and a fine of Rs 20,000 to 50,000.
• The cancellation notice of Baishakh 2083 is about people found with two citizenship certificates or false details: Chief District Officers may cancel those cards, the people re-enrol through card replacement, and may appeal to the High Court within 35 days. It does not affect anyone else's card.

The Act says that once the card is in force, it is to be shown for any government or private service, and that the NIN alone is enough wherever records can be checked by number. In practice the passport form asks for it now, and with it IRD's portal issues a PAN at once, with no documents to upload. Keep the eNID on your phone and the number in your wallet.

• Toll-free 1147; 01-5970112, 01-4200014, 01-4200894; email nid@donidcr.gov.np.
• No SMS for your NIN: Viber and WhatsApp 9851316034 or 9851316035.
• Office hours 9:00 to 16:00 from Kartik 16 to Magh 15, and 9:00 to 17:00 the rest of the year.