Kathmandu Valley offices to issue citizenship copies for other districts
District administration offices in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur will issue copies of citizenship certificates issued in other districts, each serving applicants from designated provinces; the service is to start next week.
Citizens residing in the Kathmandu Valley can now obtain copies of their Nepali citizenship certificates from local district administration offices, regardless of where the original document was issued. This administrative change, announced by the District Administration Office (DAO) in Kathmandu, aims to streamline services for individuals who have lost their documents or require updated versions.
According to reports from Techpana, Annapurna Post, Nagarik News, and Onlinekhabar, the initiative is part of the government’s 100-point administrative reform agenda, specifically item number 21. The process is governed by the Nepal Citizenship (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2083. The rules allow a copy to be issued by any district administration office in the country; the Valley arrangement follows a Ministry of Home Affairs circular of Kartik 9 (October 26), which took into account the crowds of service seekers from other districts living in the capital.
To manage the influx of applicants, the three district administration offices in the Valley have divided responsibilities based on the applicant's home province. The Kathmandu DAO will serve residents from Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini provinces. The Lalitpur DAO is designated for citizens from Karnali and Sudurpashchim provinces, while the Bhaktapur DAO will handle requests from Koshi and Madhesh provinces.
Applicants seeking a copy due to fire, water damage, loss, or a need for a new format must submit a formal request to the relevant office. For residents of Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini provinces, the process includes a verification step where biometric details must match records held in the National Identity Management Information System (NIDMIS) and the Centralized Citizenship Information Management System (CCIMS).
Authorities have clarified that this service is not available to everyone. Individuals whose records cannot be located, those seeking to correct details such as name, surname, or date of birth, and those whose applications appear suspicious upon initial review must still visit the district administration office where their original citizenship was issued. Khimraj Bhusal, the Kathmandu DAO's information officer, told Nepal News Bank (via Nepal Views) that the equipment needed was still arriving from the Department of National ID and Civil Registration and that the service would start next week, though a few applicants had already been served. An applicant's citizenship details must be updated in the central system and the applicant must already hold a national identity card, he said; "the authority to correct other details lies only with the district concerned."