Your child's school asked for a B-Form. Or the passport office did. What is this paper?
Every child in Pakistan should have one. Most parents have heard the name, but few know what it is. Here is the plain version.
What is the B-Form in Pakistan?
The B-Form is the Child Registration Certificate, or CRC. NADRA issues it. It is the identity document for every Pakistani citizen under 18.
The legal base is Rule 18 of the NADRA (NIC) Rules, 2002. It says every citizen who has not turned 18 shall be registered with NADRA. The B-Form is that registration on paper.
It does two things. It proves the child's identity. And it shows who the parents or legal guardian are.
NADRA also issues a Juvenile Card for children. It works like the B-Form. Older children get it when they need a card with a photo and fingerprints. The details are on NADRA's official page on the Child Registration Certificate.
Why does a child need it?
Schools ask for it at admission. The passport office asks for it when you apply for a child's passport. It is also the base for the first CNIC at 18.
Passport rules are clear. For a child aged 10 or above, the passport office wants an updated CRC with fingerprints and photograph, or a Juvenile Card. For a child below 10, the B-Form or the Family Registration Certificate works. The rules come from the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports.
NADRA documents now link to the national health and education systems. Schools check student enrollment against NADRA records. Without a B-Form, the record is missing.
Who can get it?
Any Pakistani child under 18 whose parent or guardian has a valid CNIC or NICOP.
What papers do you need?
You need the computerized birth registration certificate. It comes from the Union Council, Municipal Committee or Cantonment Board where the child was born. For a child born abroad, NADRA accepts the detailed birth certificate or the S-1 form from the Pakistani mission.
The child above 3 years must be present at the center. A child below 3 only needs to come if the B-Form is being processed for a passport.
What does it cost?
A new B-Form costs Rs 50 and takes about 7 days. The executive option costs Rs 500 and takes 1 day. These are the official rates in the NADRA fee structure, confirmed in an ARY News report on NADRA fees, April 2026.
How to apply
Two ways. Through the PakID app: download it, sign in, select New Juvenile Card, fill the details, upload the papers, and track the status in the app. You may still have to visit a NADRA center for the photo and biometrics.
Or walk into a NADRA Registration Centre with the papers. The staff registers the child and records the photo and iris scan. For children aged 10 and above, they also record fingerprints.
When does it expire?
The B-Form is not forever. A CRC for a child below 3 expires at age 3. For a child aged 3 to 10 it expires at 10. For a child aged 10 to 18 it expires at 18. That is when the child applies for the first CNIC, which is free.
What if the child never got a B-Form?
You are not alone. Many adults never got one because the birth was never registered. NADRA started a temporary facility in 2026 for first time CNIC applicants who have no computerized birth certificate. It runs until 31 December 2026.
It works through family records and biometrics instead of the certificate. A married woman can use her nikah nama and a parent's or husband's CNIC. An unmarried woman can use a parent's CNIC. A man above 24 can use a parent's or sibling's CNIC. The basic CNIC under this facility is free.
Other family documents you may need
NADRA keeps family records together. The B-Form is the child's entry. The marriage certificate is the parents' entry. If you need one, here is how to get a marriage certificate from NADRA in Pakistan. Once you have it, you can check your marriage certificate online in Pakistan from home. For questions about marriage itself, like whether cousin marriage is allowed in Pakistan, the law is covered separately.
The short version
The B-Form is the identity paper every child under 18 should have in Pakistan. It costs Rs 50. It needs the birth certificate and a parent's CNIC. Get it before school admission or a passport application forces you to.
That same identity system follows you into adulthood. When your own card nears its expiry date, see how CNIC renewal works in Pakistan and what it costs.
Read more guides on the Lexiber blog, or start from the Lexiber home page.
Ask Lexiber free in English or Urdu. It shows you the exact section behind every answer.
