Uzbekistan's first ID-card fee set to rise, outpacing regional peers

Uzbekistan's state fee for a first-time national ID card is facing renewed scrutiny after a social media post about a family struggling to pay the charge pushed the issue into public debate. The discussion has taken on added urgency because the fee is tied to the base calculation amount, or BHM, which is scheduled to rise from 412,000 Uzbek som to 440,000 som on Sept. 1, 2026. If the current fee rates stay in place, the cost of obtaining a first ID card will increase again, turning what is usually a routine administrative step into a closely watched household expense.

The immediate trigger was a post by journalist Dilnoza Qurbonova, who described seeing a girl aged around 15 to 16 arrive at a passport office with her father to obtain her first identity document. Qurbonova focused on the family's appearance, writing that the parents looked worn down by hard living and daily worries. When the cashier announced the amount due, the father's hands began to shake, and he opened his wallet and counted the money inside piece by piece. According to her account, the girl looked first at her father and then at the ground.

"He opened his wallet and began counting even his last small coins one by one."

That scene moved a broader policy question to the forefront: how fair is it to charge a state fee for the first identity document a child receives as they come of age, and how does Uzbekistan's pricing compare with other countries? A Vaqt.uz comparison using eight states has amplified the debate by showing that Uzbekistan sits well above a range of neighboring and regional peers on first-time document costs.

Fee reset in focus

In Uzbekistan, the state fee for a first ID card depends on how the application is submitted. If the application is filed through a Migration Department office, a Public Services Center or a consulate, the charge is set at 89% of the BHM. With the BHM currently at 412,000 som, that works out to 366,680 som. If the application is submitted online through my.gov.uz, the fee is 80.1% of the BHM, or 330,012 som at current rates.

The BHM has been fixed at 412,000 som since Aug. 1, 2025. From Sept. 1, 2026, it will rise to 440,000 som. That matters directly for households because, if the fee percentages remain unchanged, the first ID-card charge will climb to 391,600 som for applications filed through the Migration Department, Public Services Center or a consulate, and to 352,440 som for applications filed through my.gov.uz. In effect, the administrative cost of obtaining a first identity document is poised to reprice higher overnight with the BHM increase.

For readers tracking policy-linked price adjustments, that makes the BHM the key benchmark rather than a fixed nominal tariff. It also means the first ID-card fee functions like an indexed public-service cost, rising in line with a broader administrative pricing base rather than through a separate headline decision on the document itself.

Regional pricing gap

The regional comparison cited in the debate shows that some neighboring states take a sharply different approach. In Kazakhstan, from Jan. 1, 2026, the first issuance of an ID card for every citizen turning 16, as well as renewal after expiry, became free. The fee is also waived for those receiving the document for the first time after age 18, for people who have acquired 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 the document under the standard procedure in 12 working days for 1,103 Kyrgyz som, which at the current rate is about $12.6 or 149,000 Uzbek som. That makes a standard first ID card in Kyrgyzstan roughly 2.5 times cheaper than Uzbekistan's current 366,680-som state fee. In Tajikistan, the fee for issuing a citizen's ID card is set at $10, collected in the national currency, somoni, at the exchange rate on the day of payment. The processing period is set at up to 15 days. Based on the Central Bank of Uzbekistan's official Aug. 21 rate, $10 is about 118,000 Uzbek som, or roughly 3.1 times cheaper than the charge currently collected in Uzbekistan.

Turkmenistan does not have a separate national ID card, and the main identity document is a biometric passport. According to the State Migration Service, the state fee for issuing a biometric passport is set at 60 manat. At the black-market exchange rate, that is about $3.2 or 37,000 Uzbek som. Children under 16 are exempt from that payment, meaning the cost is about 10 times lower than Uzbekistan's current charge. In Russia, citizens receive an internal passport at age 14. The state fee for a first passport is 300 rubles, or about $3.6 and 42,000 Uzbek som at the current rate, making it roughly 8.7 times cheaper than the amount charged for an ID card in Uzbekistan. Under Russia's Tax Code, the same 300-ruble fee applies both to a first passport and to a routine replacement, while a lost or damaged passport carries a fee of 1,500 rubles.

Turkey's main identity document is the Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Kimlik Kartı. In 2026, the set price is 220 Turkish lira, or about $5 and 59,000 Uzbek som. But if a child's birth is registered within the period set by law and the first identity card is issued on that basis, no fee is charged. A card issued late or as a replacement costs 220 lira. In Azerbaijan, identity cards are issued to citizens from age 15. According to the Interior Ministry, the ordinary 10-day issuance of an ID card carries a state fee of 5 manat.

The immediate signal for households is that indexed state charges can move quickly when the underlying benchmark is reset. As Sept. 1 approaches, the Uzbekistan debate is centering on whether a first identity document should remain tied to a rising calculation base when several neighboring systems either charge far less or waive the fee altogether in first-issue cases.