UNMIK/PR/505
PRISTINA---UNMIK is starting the 2nd phase of the ID card distribution in Kosovo from today. The 2nd phase is much larger than the first phase that began in mid-December last year. In this phase 400,000 ID cards will be produced to be distributed between now and May.
All those who get their cards in this phase are those who registered last summer. As promised in December, the production and distribution of ID cards is starting on schedule in February.
Everyone is well aware of the problems and difficulties that UNMIK had with the registration data and the ID cards. Many of these problems have now been overcome, through electronic data correction, thus producing nearly 400,000 cards.
This phase (the 2nd) will be followed by the final phase starting in May when the remaining 600,000 cards will be produced for distribution. These cards will be made available after the data is entered manually, which is going on simultaneously at present.
The media will be informed separately about the ID cards of those who registered in the on-going registration that started last November in about two weeks time.
Today UNMIK is beginning with 12 registration centres from 12 municipalities. About 21,000 ID cards are ready (there is a separate list of names of municipalities where the ID cards are available) and 10,000 are being printed everyday.
The ID cards will be distributed through PTK’s network of Post Offices in Kosovo. Eighty three Post Offices will be involved in this process.
The ID cards will be printed one municipality at a time and one registration centre at a time. Each registration centre will be linked to a nearby Post Office. A person can go to the old registration centre where he/ she registered to find out whether his/her card is ready.
If the card is ready that person will find his/her registration receipt number on the list outside the registration centre where he/she registered. These lists will be displayed only when the cards are printed. The lists will be in a numerical sequence.
Since the cards will be distributed either during Phase II or Phase III, people may have to check several times outside the registration centres. However, in principal each of the former registration centers (some 400 Kosovo-wide) will be linked to a Post Office. UNMIK will announce every time ID Cards from a particular registration site have been delivered to the assigned Post Office. The number of the registration center can be found on the blue registration receipt which is in possession of every person who registered last year.
When a person collects his/her ID card, he/she should surrender only half of the blue registration slip.
If the registration receipt has been lost, this must be first reported to the Municipal Civil Registration Centre (MCRC) in the municipality the person lives in. Or if the data on the ID card is wrong the person must go to the MCRC to have a correction report made.
The importance of holding an ID card cannot be over emphasised. The information gathered for the ID Card will form the civil registry to be used for everything in future, like travel documents and a comprehensive voters’ list in preparation for general elections.
Only with an ID Card, can a person apply for a Travel Document at the MCRC.
The SRSG issued the first 11 TDs on 26 January. Since then about 200 TDs have been issued and about 700 TDs have been made available at the MCRCs for distribution.
The prerequisite for applying for the UNMIK Travel Document is a successful civil registration by a person, confirming him/her as a habitual resident of Kosovo. He/she must also have received the UNMIK ID Card as a proof of status before applying for a Travel Document.
Consequently when the ID Card is received, the person may visit in person the Municipal Civil Registration Center (MCRC) in municipality he/she lives in, present the ID Card, pay a fee of DEM 60 and apply for a Travel Document. It will take approximately one month to produce and distribute the Travel Document. The MCRC will put up lists outside the centers to inform people when they may collect their Travel Document.
So far 17 countries have recognized the document including, Sweden, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Finland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, UK, Italy, the USA and Romania. Three countries, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg have conditionally accepted the Travel Document.