NRIs Can Now Get Aadhaar On Arrival

In Budget 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made the proposal of issuing Aadhaar cards to NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) after they arrive in the country. In line with the proposal, a notification was issued by the government last week informing that NRIs will be able to apply for Aadhaar on arrival rather than wait for 180 days (as per previous regulations).

An official Gazette notification by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology dated 20 September said, "the Central Government hereby notifies that a Non Resident Indian, after his arrival in India, shall be entitled to obtain an Aadhaar number."

It also clarified that "For the purposes of this notification, "Non Resident Indian" means a person who is a citizen of India holding a valid Indian Passport but not a resident as defined under clause (v) of section 2 of the said Act."

Earlier, an NRI was required to reside in India for at least 182 days in the last 12 months to be able to apply for an Aadhaar.

Further, it said that the notification shall come into force from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Earlier this month, UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey told news agency PTI that the unique-ID-issuing-body is working on the facility and legal requirements to enable NRIs book an appointment online from their country of residence to apply for Aadhaar at a time slot and place of their convenience. This way, the applicant will be able to get on with the process easily when they visit India.

The facility is projected to be available in 3 months time.