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Shenasnameh is an ID booklet that must be issued to all Iranian citizens upon birth registration. These offices register births and changes in the civil status of Iranian citizens and issue various types of ID documents (NOCR, meeting in Tehran November 2015).
Birth registration and first-time issuance of shenasnameh
Children of an Iranian mother and a foreign father
Iranian authorities have stated (as cited in ISI & GCENR 2019, p. 6) that over 49,000 children with Iranian mothers were undocumented in 2017. Almost 30% of children did not attend school due to lack of ID documents.4 Iranian Parliament members have claimed that around one million children in Iran have Iranian mothers and foreign fathers (ISI & GCENR 2019, p. 6).
Children of an Iranian mother and an unknown father
National ID number
Characteristics and content of the shenasnameh
Previous version of the shenasnameh
The previous version of shenasnameh consists of two pages for people under 15 and four pages for people over 15. In 2015, NOCR (meeting in Tehran) said that there were many problems with forgeries of the old version of shenasnameh.
Validity
Instead, two pages have been added to the existing version and a photograph of the holder has been inserted (IRB 2006). Before the revolution in 1979, another type of shenasnameh was issued, which is now no longer valid (Norwegian Embassy in Tehran, email February 2018).
Renewal of shenasnameh
Registration of changed civil status information
A marriage and divorce notary registers the marriage, issues certificates and updates the marital status in the couple's register. In case of divorce, people have three months to review the decision in the family court before registering the divorce at the notary.
Replacement of lost shenasnameh
There is no need to renew the shenasnameh when one gets married/divorced or has children. NOCR offices enter the child's name in the parent's shenasnameh when a shenasnameh is issued to the child.
Children of foreign parents
Issuance of shenasnameh abroad
- First-time issuance to children under 15 years
- First-time issuance to children between 15 and 18 years
- First-time issuance to persons over 18 years of age
- Replacement of lost shenasnameh
- Renewal of shenasnameh
- Issuing by proxy in Iran
The foreign service mission maintains an archival document documenting that a shenasnameh was issued (NID 2019b). 12 The paternal grandfather or a legal guardian can also register the child with the foreign service mission (NOCR n.d.c). If no fingerprint card can be produced, the foreign service mission will issue a referral to the local police station at the place of residence.
Econsulate (n.d.c) also provides application procedures for the first-time issuance of a shenasnameh to Iranians over 18 years of age. If applicants cannot show fingerprint cards, the foreign service mission will issue a referral to the local police station at the place of residence. Econsulate (n.d.f), states that parents must submit both shenasnameh and passport if the child is registered in the passport.
Electronic version (smart card)
Issuing procedures
Iranians can apply for the card at around 5,000 offices across the country, either post offices or so-called Pishkhan, which are local service centers established by the NOCR in collaboration with private actors. Here the card is personalized and then sent for control to a special department, the CQC department. In addition, the photo quality is reviewed and the card is checked for any other errors.
Once the card is approved, it is sent back to the original application office, which delivers it to the applicant. To receive the card and its simultaneous digital activation, the applicant must submit fingerprints (NOCR n.d.h; NID 2018). The card is issued with three sets of PIN codes, which can be changed by the holder upon collection of the card.
Characteristics and content
The codes will provide access to online public services, and as such the holder does not need to attend various public offices in person (NID 2018). The third PIN number opens information about electronic signature, which means that a person can submit an electronic signature with this PIN code (NID 2018). As explained in Chapter 3.1.1, the card can be used to access public services, including health and social services (NOCR n.d.g, p. 40).
The date of issue is not marked, but must be seven years before the expiration date, which is marked on the card (NOCR, meeting 2015).
Previous version of the kart-e melli
Information about religious affiliation
Renewal and replacement of kart-e melli
Issuing abroad
Information in the passport
Application procedure in Iran
Passports for children
Previously, children were normally written in the father's passport and were not given an ordinary passport. However, around 2010, the passport authorities made a change of practice, meaning that everyone, including children, now gets their own passport. An exception is the youngest children, probably in the age group 0-2 years, but we don't know for sure (Norwegian Embassy in Tehran, e-mail April 2014).
This means that it is not illegal to put children in the father's passport (Norwegian Embassy in Tehran, e-mail April 2014). For passports to be issued to children, the father or legal guardian must complete a written consent form (UNCHR 2010; Danish National ID Center 2018, p. 3).
Passports for women
Renewal and replacement of passports
Application procedure from abroad
- General requirements for all passport applicants
- Additional requirements for renewal of passports
- Additional requirements for replacement of lost passports
- Additional requirements for men of conscription age
- Additional requirements for applicants whose residence is based
- Additional requirements for applicants with dual citizenship
- Exit stamp for several exits or change of permanent residence
- Passports for children living abroad
- Passports for women living abroad
The issuance conditions vary slightly depending on the status of the Iranian citizens in the country of residence. If children and spouse are registered in the lost passport: their shenasnameh (original and two copies). Furthermore, applicants must change their permanent residence to the country in which they live, so that it can be entered as the country of residence in the passport (Consulate n.d.n; Embassy of Iran in Norway n.d.).24.
23 This is not mentioned in the procedures for issuing passports to persons with dual citizenship (Econsulate n.d.g.). Iranians who live abroad and do not change residence to the country in which they live, need a special exit stamp in the passport to be able to enter and exit Iran multiple times. Copies of pages 2-3 and the pages showing the stamp for last legal departure from Iran and the stamp for a valid residence permit in the country of residence must also be attached (Consulate n.d.m.).
Procedures in Iran
According to the US Bureau of Consular Affairs (n.d.) two witnesses must be present at. The certificate of divorce, Sanad-e Talaq, is a small, handwritten, white-covered booklet (US Bureau of Consular Affairs n.d.).
Procedures abroad
Marriage registration at Iranian foreign service missions
Divorce registration at the Iranian Embassy in Norway
Four new photos of both parties (4x3 cm, showing full face, no hat or dark glasses, and the woman must wear a full Islamic hijab). The Embassy in Norway states (telephone conversation August 2020) that based on this documentation, it will issue a divorce certificate and register the divorce in the records of both parties. If, on the other hand, only one of the parties visits the embassy to get a divorce and the other refuses, the person concerned will be referred to take the case to an Iranian family court (Iranian Embassy in Norway, telephone conversation August 2020).
The Iranian embassy in Norway has stated that in such cases the parties should contact the embassy to obtain a certified power of attorney for representatives in Iran. This applies even if one party is abroad; then the person located in Iran participates in person, while the other is represented by a representative. If the parties live in different countries, they should be able to go to the respective embassies, which will certify their authorization (Iranian Embassy in Norway, . telephone conversation October 2014).
Registration of deaths and issuance of certificates in Iran
The embassy also emphasizes that this practice has been in place for a long time and is in line with Iranian law. An Iranian couple abroad can also file a divorce case with an Iranian court with the help of proxies. If there is no official death notification, two witnesses can appear at a NOCR office and record the death by submitting their shenasnameh (NOCR n.d.j).
Once the death has been registered, a death certificate can be issued to an unlimited number of people who apply for it, against a fee (NOCR n.d.j).
Registration of deaths abroad
To what extent the Iranian embassy in Norway provides consular services to critics of the regime is a question posed to Landinfo by Norwegian immigration authorities. Over the years, exiled Iranians told Landinfo that they were asked about their social security. Others were asked whether they were coming voluntarily or were pressured by Norwegian immigration authorities to apply for Iranian passports.
As mentioned above (chapter 4.4.5), Iranians who apply for a passport must also state their residence status in Norway. With the introduction of the latest versions of shenasnameh, kart-e melli and passport, the reliability of Iranian ID documents has been significant. At the same time, the old versions of shenasnameh and kart-e melli are still in use, and it is unclear to what extent they are accepted today as breeder documents for issuing passports.
Corruption
Control routines for issuance of documents
Finally, the NID points out that some registration offices still make corrections and changes to shenasnamehs manually, even in the latest version of the document. Marital status and children information should be entered by inkjet printer, but such additions are still sometimes done manually as not all NOCR offices necessarily follow the issuance and verification procedures to the letter (NID, email April 2020). NID has no information on which control routines are carried out at the office where applications for kart-e melli are submitted (NID 2016a).
Forged documents
Available at https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/country-information-report-iran.pdf [downloaded 2 June 2020]. Available at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news iran-uses-national-card-fresh-discrimination-against-bahai/ [downloaded 2 June 2020]. Tehran: General Bureau of Identity Affairs for Iranians Abroad. Available at https://www.sabteahval.ir/Upload/Modules/Contents/asset90/RaW9.pdf [downloaded 2 June 2020].
موجود در Hadaj Repchipehila "Hebnadenzerf Yarad Redaminaria and Redpijerakh Treatment Department" - Encia (isna.ir) [دانلود در 17 دسامبر 2020]. موجود در https://www.nidsenter.no/tjenester/IDbasen/Midtosten/Iran/Dokumentkontroll/Nasjonale-ID-kort/nasjonalt-e-id-karte-melli/soknad-og-utstedelse-fra-utlandet/ [دانلود 2 ژوئن 2020 - این پایگاه داده نیاز به ورود به سیستم دارد]. قابل دسترسی در https://www.sabteahval.ir/fa/Default.aspx?tabid=4137 [دانلود ژانویه 2020 - دیگر در وب سایت NOCR موجود نیست].
