Green pitches NIDS card to expats

Jamaican migrants will be able to enrol in the National Identification System (NIDS) and obtain a national identification card.

Minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Floyd Green, said Jamaicans will be required to pre-enrol online and set an appointment for in-person verification.

The enrolment site will capture persons’ facial image and fingerprints, after which the card can be processed. Diaspora members will receive a tracking number through which they can check on the status of their application.

Green was speaking at Tuesday’s Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference, which was held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

Meanwhile, the minister said that post offices across Jamaica will be retrofitted as enrolment centres for NIDS. A pilot will be conducted in Kingston and St Andrew.

“Our first enrolment site should be ready in August of this year, and then we have another four that we expect to be ready between September and October of this year,” said Green, adding that the Government expects to begin rolling out centres locally by mid- to late 2023.

Green said the goal is to have an initial two centres per parish, with additional locations in urban centres.

The minister disclosed that the card production centre is 97 per cent complete and is projected to be completed by month-end.

Further, the software that will be used to back up the data collected is at 90 per cent ready and is likely to be completed by July.

“I know that nothing is going to bring our diaspora more joy than when they can back out their purse or wallet or cardholder and back out their card, or show their electronic national identification card when somebody asks, ‘Are you Jamaican?’” Green remarked.

He also reiterated that once the card is presented, it eliminated the need for any other proof of identification in accordance with the National Identification and Registration Act.

NIDS is expected to provide a comprehensive and secure structure to enable the collection and storage of identity information.

“The most secure card we have in Jamaica now has about 12 security features. Our national identification card will have 26 security features. We have level one, two, and three security features because we are building a fit-for-purpose system,” Green said.

The voluntary tool can also verify an individual’s identity, facilitate the electronic signing of documents, and securely access a range of government services online.

judana.murphy@gleanerjm.com