TEHRAN – The first identity card for Iranians living in the United States was issued on Friday, IRNA reported.

National ID cards will be also available for Iranians residing in Canada, the report added.

Iranians residing in the U.S. can contact the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington to ask for receiving their ID cards.

Hashem Karegar, the head of the Civil Registration Organization, said in April that the Iranians living abroad will receive smart identity cards

In order to facilitate service provision and honor Iranian expatriates, the plan for the issuance of smart identity cards entered the implementation phase, ISNA quoted Karegar as saying.

National ID cards will be also available for Iranians residing in Canada.

The applicants can register in the consulates of Frankfurt, Kuala Lumpur, and Vienna to receive the identity cards, and they will soon be available in other countries as well, he added.

The Secretariat of the High Council of Iranians Abroad announced in its 2020 report that a total of 4,37,258 Iranians reside abroad, 76 percent of whom are residents in the Americas and European countries.

The administration of President Ebrahim Raisi has placed the issue of facilitating the return of Iranians living abroad to their home country high on its agenda, with government officials constantly reiterating the need for paving the way for the expatriates to return.

About 500 Iranian researchers have returned home over the past four years to transfer their knowledge and expertise to the country's universities, according to the vice presidency for science and technology.

With the support of the National Elites Foundation and Science and Technology Vice Presidency, universities, knowledge enterprises, technology parks, and incubators launched a plan titled ‘cooperation with Iranian expatriate entrepreneurs and elites’ in 2015.

The plan aims to attract Iranians abroad to share knowledge in different forms including postdoctoral research, research opportunity, and visiting fellows, in addition to being faculty members.

MG