Uzbekistan's First ID Card Fee Draws Scrutiny Over Family Budgets

In Uzbekistan, a fee that many families must pay when a child reaches mid-adolescence has moved from routine paperwork to a broader consumer debate. Social media discussion has focused on the state duty charged for a first ID card, after a journalist described seeing a 15- or 16-year-old girl arrive with her father to obtain the document that would identify her for the first time. The account turned a technical tariff into a question about how much cash households should have to find for a basic civic service.

"He opened his wallet and began counting even the last small coins one by one," journalist Dilnoza Qurbonova wrote on Facebook, describing the father's reaction when the fee was announced.

According to the account, the girl first looked at her father and then at the ground, while the family counted what they had at the cashier. That image has pushed one question to the center of public discussion: how fair is the state duty for a child's first identity document, and how does Uzbekistan compare with nearby countries? For households, the issue is not abstract. A first ID card is a required expense, and because the fee is linked to an official benchmark rather than fixed in cash terms, the amount can rise automatically over time.

In Uzbekistan, the charge for a first ID card depends on how the application is submitted. If citizens apply through the Migration Department, a State Services Center or a consulate, the state duty is set at 89% of the base calculation amount, or BHM. With the BHM currently at 412,000 sum, that means a payment of 366,680 sum. If the application is filed online through the my.gov.uz portal, the fee is 80.1% of the BHM, which currently comes to 330,012 sum. For consumers, that creates a clear difference between the offline and online channels, even though both lead to the same first document.

The benchmark itself is also rising. Since Aug. 1, 2025, the BHM has been set at 412,000 sum. From Sept. 1, 2026, it will increase to 440,000 sum. If the fee rates for ID cards remain unchanged, the state duty would rise to 391,600 sum for applications filed through the Migration Department, State Services Center or consulate, and to 352,440 sum for applications filed through my.gov.uz. That matters for family budgeting because the cost of a first ID card would move higher without any separate change in the percentage rate, simply because the administrative base has been lifted.

How Uzbekistan compares with neighbors

An eight-country comparison shows that several nearby states handle first identity documents differently, often with a lighter direct burden on households. In Kazakhstan, from Jan. 1, 2026, the first issuance of an ID card for every citizen turning 16 became free, and renewal after the document expires also became free. The waiver also applies when people receive the document for the first time after age 18, when they acquire Kazakh citizenship, and in certain other cases. The initiative is aimed at reducing citizens' financial burden and simplifying the paperwork process.

In Kyrgyzstan, citizens obtaining an ID card for the first time can receive it through the standard procedure within 12 working days for 1,103 Kyrgyz som, or about $12.6 and 149,000 Uzbek sum at the cited exchange rate. That makes the standard first-time cost in Kyrgyzstan about 2.5 times cheaper than Uzbekistan's current 366,680-sum state duty. In Tajikistan, the fee for a citizen's ID card is set at $10, collected in somoni at the exchange rate on the day of payment. The processing period is set at up to 15 days. At the official Aug. 21 exchange rate of Uzbekistan's central bank, $10 is about 118,000 Uzbek sum, or roughly 3.1 times cheaper than the charge currently collected in Uzbekistan.

Turkmenistan does not have a separate national ID card; the main identity document is a biometric passport. According to the State Migration Service, the state duty for that passport is 60 manat, which the report says is about $3.2 or 37,000 Uzbek sum at the black market rate. Children under 16 are exempt from the payment. On that comparison, the charge is about 10 times lower than Uzbekistan's current fee. In Russia, citizens receive an internal passport at age 14. The state duty for a first passport is 300 rubles, or about $3.6 and 42,000 Uzbek sum at the cited current rate, making it about 8.7 times cheaper than the amount now charged for a first ID card in Uzbekistan.

Under Russia's Tax Code, the 300-ruble state duty applies both when the passport is issued for the first time and when it is replaced under the normal schedule. If the passport has been lost or has become unusable, the fee is 1,500 rubles. In Turkey, the main identity document is the Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Kimlik Kartı. In 2026, its stated price is 220 Turkish lira, or about $5 and 59,000 Uzbek sum. But if a child's birth is registered within the period set by law and the first identity card is then issued, no fee is charged. Cards issued after the deadline or issued as replacements cost 220 lira.

Azerbaijan also uses a lower nominal fee structure. Citizens receive an identity card from age 15, and, according to the Interior Ministry, the standard 10-day processing of an ID card carries a state duty of 5 manat. Taken together, the regional comparison has sharpened the consumer argument inside Uzbekistan: when the first proof of identity is tied to a rising benchmark, the charge becomes part of the household budget conversation, not just an administrative line item. For families living tightly, the debate is ultimately about who should absorb the cost of a basic document at the moment a child formally enters civic life.