Report Afghanistan: Tazkera, passports and other ID documents Report Afghanistan: Tazkera, passports and other ID documents LANDINFO – 22 MAY 2019 1 About Landinfo’s reports The Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre, Landinfo, is an independent body within the Norwegian Immigration Authorities. Landinfo provides country of origin information to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (Utlendingsdirektoratet – UDI), the Immigration Appeals Board (Utlendingsnemnda – UNE) and the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Reports produced by Landinfo are based on information from carefully selected sources. The information is researched and evaluated in accordance with common methodology for processing COI and Landinfo’s internal guidelines on source and information analysis. To ensure balanced reports, efforts are made to obtain information from a wide range of sources. Many of our reports draw on findings and interviews conducted on fact-finding missions. 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Box 2098 Vika NO-0125 Oslo Norway Tel: +47 23 30 94 70 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.landinfo.no Report Afghanistan: Tazkera, passports and other ID documents LANDINFO – 22 MAY 2019 2 SUMMARY This report describes the procedures for issuing and registration of Afghan ID-cards (tazkera) and passports, including changes in procedures introduced by the Afghan Embassy in Oslo in June 2016. The report also presents information about the level of integrity of Afghan documents. The authenticity of Afghan identity documents is low, partly as a result of decades of armed conflict, a weak central government, a widespread corruption culture and incomplete registration procedures and archive systems. Report Afghanistan: Tazkera, passports and other ID documents LANDINFO – 22 MAY 2019 3 CONTENTS 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 5 2. Tazkera................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Issuing tazkera ........................................................................................................ 6 2.1.1 The application process .................................................................................................. 7 2.2 What information is shown in a tazkera? ............................................................... 8 2.2.1 New paper tazkera ........................................................................................................ 10 2.3 Registration ........................................................................................................... 11 2.4 E-Tazkera ............................................................................................................. 11 2.4.1 The e-tazkera’s content and design .............................................................................. 12 3. Passport ............................................................................................................. 12 3.1 General information about the issuing of passports ............................................. 13 3.2 What information does the passport contain? ....................................................... 15 3.3 Register ................................................................................................................. 15 4. Application for a passport at the embassy in Oslo ........................................ 15 4.1 Cost ....................................................................................................................... 16 4.2 Requirement regarding presentation of tazkera when applying for a passport ..... 16 4.2.1 Opportunity to obtain a tazkera from Norway ............................................................. 17 4.3 Passports for minors ............................................................................................. 18 5. Identity Certificate ........................................................................................... 19 6. Registration of births ....................................................................................... 19 7. Assessment of routines ..................................................................................... 20 7.1 Issuing tazkera ...................................................................................................... 20 7.2 Issuing passports ................................................................................................... 21 8. Administration and conflict ............................................................................ 21 8.1 Bribery and corruption.......................................................................................... 21 8.2 Armed conflict and administration ....................................................................... 22 9. Comments regarding credibility ..................................................................... 23 10. REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 25 Report Afghanistan: Tazkera, passports and other ID documents LANDINFO – 22 MAY 2019 4 1. INTRODUCTION This report describes procedures for the issuing of Afghan passports and the tazkera ID document. The report was originally drawn up in 2010 and has subsequently been updated several times. Changes still take place in the field and information quickly becomes outdated, both with regard to legislation and practice. The last time the report was updated in its entirety was on the 24th of April 2017. A weak state, extensive corruption and the armed conflict affect the document situation in Afghanistan. In parts of the country the authorities are not present, neither are the authoritative bodies responsible for issuing documents. In other areas the security situation is fluid and can change rapidly. Access to public documents are best in government controlled urban areas. Updated information in respect to ID documents and the issuing of these in Afghanistan is relatively limited. This account is based on available, relevant information from open, web-based sources. In addition, it is based on conversations and correspondence with the Afghan embassy in Norway, the Norwegian National ID Centre, continuous exchanges with sources in Afghanistan, as well as information obtained during Landinfo’s visit to Kabul during the period 2015 to 2018. 2. TAZKERA The tazkera is the most important ID document for Afghan citizens and serves as a confirmation that a person is an Afghan citizen. The document is normally a necessity in order to gain access to some public services like, for example, the educational system, to acquire and own property and to have different permits granted. Normally, it is also a supporting document for the issuing of other documents from the authorities, such as a passport. Similarly, the tazkera is often necessary for registering information on various matters with the public authorities, like for instance the registration of a marriage. According to the Afghan think tank The Liaison Office (TLO) (2013), a tazkera is needed in order to be employed by a public service. With reference to the Law on Registration of Population Records (2014, article 9 (2)) it is a requirement for all Afghans to have a tazkera. This provision is not implemented. It is up to the individual Afghan whether they want to apply for a tazkera or not. Nevertheless, all Afghan citizens have the right to a tazkera, irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity and place of residence. There is no minimum age for acquiring a tazkera and the document can be issued to newborn children. Afghan citizens residing abroad also have the right to obtain a tazkera. The tazkera is not issued automatically, but upon application. A well-informed international organisation (meeting in Kabul, November 2015) assumes that about 60 percent of the population are in possession of the document. It is mainly men who represent their family to the authorities, and everything suggests that considerably more men than women are in possession of a tazkera. Figures from NRC and Samuel Hall (2016, p. 23) confirm this. According to their estimates 90 percent of men were in possession of a tazkera, whilst corresponding figures for women were slightly below Report Afghanistan: Tazkera, passports and other ID documents LANDINFO – 22 MAY 2019 5 40 percent. Amongst internally displaced people and nomads, the percentage of those having a tazkera is below that of the population in general. Likewise, far more people in the cities have a tazkera than those in the countryside. There are marginalised groups in the countryside who cannot read or write and who do not even know what a tazkera