The short answer
You applied for your birth certificate through NADRA's Pak ID app, waited, and got this back: "Your application is rejected by Union Council Secretary." Here is the truth that saves you weeks:
Nothing was wrong with your application. The app accepts birth certificate applications from anyone, but in practice only recent births (roughly the last two years) get approved through it. Older births come back rejected, every time we have seen.
Your record is not hiding in the app somewhere. Pak ID does not display birth records at all, at any age, and has no way to look one up.
The route that works is physical: a fresh application at a Union Council in your birth province, or handing the whole thing to a service like ours.
The rejection is not a verdict on you or your documents. It is the system quietly telling you that no digital record of your birth exists for a Secretary to approve. That is fixable, and fixing it once fixes it forever.
Why the app rejects older births
Pakistan's civil records were only computerized in the early 2000s. Births registered since then were digitized as they happened; everything earlier stayed in handwritten Union Council registers unless a citizen went and had their own record computerized. Most never did.
The Pak ID application runs on those digital records. A recent birth has one, so the Union Council Secretary on the other end can verify and approve it. An older birth usually has no digital record at all, so there is nothing for the Secretary to approve, and the application is rejected. The app does not warn you of this in advance; it takes the application, sits on it, and rejects it later, which is where the lost weeks come from.
The same logic explains the other dead end people hit: there is no screen in Pak ID that shows your birth certificate or checks a CRMS number. Records are verified inside NADRA's own system, by officials with the authority to look. For an ordinary citizen, the app is a one-way letterbox, not a records office.
The route that actually works
An old birth gets its certificate by being registered into the digital system for the first time, and that happens through local government, in person. The chain, as it actually runs:
The record is registered at the Municipal Corporation.
It then registers at the Union Council.
A CRMS number is issued, the record's permanent identity in NADRA's system.
The certificate is issued against that CRMS number and attested by the Union Council Secretary.
Two facts make this far more manageable than most families expect:
Any Union Council in the birth province will do. The system is centralized at province level, so a birth in Gujranwala can be registered through a Union Council in Lahore, and once registered, the record is available across the province. Nobody has to travel to the ancestral district.
Once registered, it is done forever. Future copies are reprints against the CRMS number, not a repeat of this process.
The constraint that catches people out: the application must be lodged by a close blood relative, a parent or sibling. A cousin or a friend is generally not accepted, and we have watched a cousin's application sit on "the system is updating" for weeks precisely because of this. And the unwritten rule: applications tend to move when someone the Union Council knows walks them through. If your family has nobody who fits both requirements, that is exactly the gap we exist to fill.
No relative who can do this for you?
We run the whole chain: the registration, the CRMS number, the attested certificate, delivered to your UK address. One all-inclusive price, updates at every stage, GDPR compliant, and your documents are deleted once the application is approved.
See the birth certificate serviceWhat we need from you
For a backdated registration handled through us, the list is:
Your NADRA card (CNIC or NICOP)
Your passport
Both parents' NADRA cards
Your address at the time of birth, which is what places the record with the right local registry
A sibling's NADRA card, if available, as supporting evidence
Your grandfather's name, which is printed on the certificate; his ID card is not needed, and the name already appears on your father's card
Your documents are handled under UK GDPR: they live on our own private server, are seen only by the person working on your case, and are permanently deleted once your application is approved.
"The system is updating", and other stalls
The classic stall: someone goes to the Union Council for you, and the answer, week after week, is that NADRA's system is updating. In our experience that phrase almost never describes a technical problem. It usually means one of three things: the applicant is not eligible (a cousin instead of a blood relative), the application is missing something nobody has named, or it is simply not being worked on because nobody there is invested in moving it.
Patience does not fix any of those. Escalation does. The practical ladder:
The right applicant: confirm a parent or sibling lodged it, not a more distant relative.
A person who can follow up: cases move when someone walks them through the office rather than phoning into the void.
A court decree: for cases that will not move at all, a decree can be obtained that directs the Union Council to issue the certificate. It adds time and cost, but it converts a case that depends on goodwill into one with a legal instruction behind it. We arrange this when a case genuinely needs it, and honestly advise when it does not.
Cost and timing
Through our service the birth certificate is £150 all-inclusive for the attested hard copy delivered to your UK address, or £125 for the verified PDF, with MOFA attestation (needed for embassies and the Home Office) a £35 add-on. A typical case runs 12 to 15 working days end to end; a stubborn Union Council can stretch that, and the chasing is part of what you are paying us to do.
The wider picture, fees, attestation levels, and every special situation, is in the complete birth certificate guide.
Start with a photo of your NADRA card
One form and we take it from there. You get a tracking ID by email within minutes, updates at every stage, and your documents stay private on our own server until they are deleted on approval.
Start your applicationIf your case is different
Registering a newborn (born within the last two years): the app route genuinely works for you, and the process is far simpler than anything on this page.
Born in the UK? Your child does not get a Union Council certificate at all; their route is NADRA registration, covered in your child's first Pakistani passport.
Record exists but the details are wrong: correction first, certificate second. Small errors are fixed at the Union Council with an affidavit; big ones need a court order. The complete guide covers both.
No record of the birth anywhere, ever: the route is a late registration opened with a Non-Availability of Birth Certificate (NABC). Message us on WhatsApp and we will assess it honestly before you pay anything.
Frequently asked questions
What does "Your application is rejected by Union Council Secretary" mean?+
It means there is no digital record of your birth for the Secretary to verify and approve, which is normal for births before the early 2000s. It is not a fault in your application or documents. The fix is registering the birth through a Union Council in your birth province, physically, after which the certificate is issued.
Can I fix it by applying again on Pak ID?+
No. The app accepts applications at any age but in practice only approves recent births, roughly within the last two years. Reapplying for an older birth produces the same rejection and costs you more weeks. The working route is the physical one through a Union Council.
Does my relative have to go to the Union Council where I was born?+
No. The system is centralized at province level, so any Union Council in your birth province can take the registration. A birth in Gujranwala can be handled through a Union Council in Lahore. Crossing provinces does not work; Punjab births stay within Punjab, Sindh within Sindh.
Can my cousin make the application for me?+
Generally no. Union Councils expect a close blood relative, a parent or sibling. Cousin-lodged applications are the single most common reason cases sit indefinitely on "the system is updating". If no parent or sibling can do it, a service like ours making the application is the reliable alternative.
Will my birth certificate show up in Pak ID once this is done?+
No, and that is normal. Pak ID does not display birth records at any age. What you get is the computerized certificate itself, attested and delivered, with the record permanently registered in NADRA's system where officials can verify it.
How long does it take and what does it cost?+
Typically 12 to 15 working days end to end. £150 all-inclusive for the attested hard copy delivered in the UK, £125 for the verified PDF, and £35 on top if your certificate needs MOFA attestation for an embassy or the Home Office.