Uganda’s National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has unveiled a new online portal aimed at streamlining the registration and renewal process for national identity cards, allowing citizens to initiate applications remotely before visiting a NIRA center for biometric capture.
The platform, accessible through the NIRA website, targets both first-time applicants and individuals whose IDs are due to expire, particularly those set to lapse in June 2025.
The portal generates a unique application ID, which users present at designated NIRA centers for iris scans and fingerprint capture.
NIRA advises users to access the portal via computer for an optimal experience, noting that mobile functionality remains limited. This marks the first phase of the national ID mass renewal drive expected to end by August 12, 2025, when all expired IDs will cease to be valid.
Requirements and Costs
Renewal is free for applicants who present their old ID, either in original form or as a photocopy. For adults applying for the first time must provide photocopies of a parent’s, grandparent’s, or blood relative’s national ID, alongside a local council letter or a citizenship certificate from the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control.
Children under 18 need a relative’s ID copy. But for lost ID replacements, applicants must present a police report or a copy of the expired card.
Those seeking to update personal details are required to appear at a NIRA district office with supporting documents listed on the agency’s website.
Replacing a lost ID costs Shs50,000, while making corrections or updates to existing records costs Shs200,000.
Although the standard processing time is four weeks, NIRA anticipates delays of up to five months in the initial phase due to anticipated public demand. However, processing timelines are expected to improve to two weeks as the system stabilizes.
Approved national IDs will be delivered to applicants’ homes under a newly introduced logistics arrangement.
To support this digitized registration process, NIRA entered into a partnership with Tahaluf Al Emarat Technical Solutions in July 2024. Under the agreement, the firm supplied 5,665 biometric kits that were fully distributed across the country by February 2025.
Additionally, two advanced card-printing machines with a daily capacity of producing 100,000 laser-engraved IDs were delivered in March 2025, with data center infrastructure, including secure servers, installed between October 2024 and January 2025.
Nationwide public registration officially opens on Monday, May 26, 2025, as NIRA ramps up efforts to issue secure, verifiable IDs to all eligible Ugandans.
