You can not only apply for your Aadhar card online but you can also check the status of your Aadhar card online by visiting the website of UIDAI (www.uidai.gov.in). Remember that UIDAI is a high security document and hence there are necessary checks and balances in the whole process. For example, any attempt to access your Aadhar details can only be done with a security code and an OTP sent on your mobile. How do you do an Aadhar card search and how do you search by name. While banks and authorized persons can do Aadhar card verification, the Aadhar card link will give most of the information only to you the holder of the Aadhar card.
Once you have applied for a card how do you check the status of the application?
When you visit the home page of the Aadhar website www.uidai.in you can see the above screen on the home page. You can just click on the “Check Aadhar Status” link which has been highlighted in yellow colour. Remember, when to use this facility. You can check for Aadhar status if you have applied for a new Aadhar card and have not got any update from the UIDAI about the status of your card. Here you can check the status of your card application by click on the above link that is highlighted in yellow colour. Let us now look at the next steps.
What data points you must provide to check status?
As you can see in the above picture, you need to keep your Enrolment acknowledgement ready and handy with you as you will be required to input crucial details in the screen. The first thing is the Enrolment id. The Enrolment id is a 28 digit number consisting of 2 separate sections as under:
In the first section to the left of the screen, you have to enter the 14 digit code that is provided in the Enrolment acknowledgement given to you when you gave your biometric test. This number will have the following format 1111 / 11111 / 11111. Write the number exactly as it is given in the enrolment acknowledgement. You don’t need to put the slash mark (/) as that will come automatically on the screen by default.
Once the left side of the form is completed on the right side, there is the date/time variable. This must be entered exactly as it is given in the enrolment acknowledgement form. For example, the format will be something like this DD / MM / YY HH:MM:SS. The date, month, year, hour, minute and second must be copied perfectly from the details available in the acknowledgement of enrolment. Any mistake in inputting will led to the request being rejected so enter the numbers very carefully. It is only when all the 28 digits are perfectly entered that you can view the status of your Aadhar card.
There will be an OTP verification done by UIDAI
Once the above data is found to be perfectly in order, the UIDAI system will accept the request and it will send you a one-time password (OTP) by SMS to your mobile. Only once you enter the OTP code precisely from your SMS, will you be given access to reach the next screen. The OTP is an additional measure of security adopted by UIDAI to ensure that nobody else accesses your Aadhar information without authorization.
What is the output that you get?
After all the process is completed and you are authenticated, you can now view the status of your Aadhar card application. Here you will be informed if the Aadhar card has been processed or not and if so what are the reasons. In case there are any objections you can go to the nearest Aadhar facilitation centre and get the same rectified. If everything is in order and the application for Aadhar is approved, then the UIDAI will allow you to download the Aadhar from that screen itself. Such Aadhar will be in PDF format and can be accessed through a combination of your date of birth and your pin code. Remember, that this Aadhar card download is as good as the original and you don’t need to wait for the actually physical print to reach you at all. This is good enough for all practical purposes.