Ethiopian Origin ID (Yellow Card) From Abroad

You have to apply for the Ethiopian Origin ID yourself. The Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS) says it cannot issue this card by proxy. No agent, no relative and no advocate can stand in for you.

That is the short answer, and it is the one most agency sites leave out. The rest of this guide covers what each office asks for, what the published fees are, and the one part of the job that someone in Ethiopia can do for you.

What the card is called

Ethiopia issues the Ethiopian Origin ID Card. Most people call it the yellow card.

You will also see it written as the Ethiopian Origin ID, the origin card, or simply the diaspora ID. For Ethiopia, these all mean the same card.

Why nobody can apply for you

ICS publishes one line that settles it: "It is not possible to issue Ethiopian origin ID by proxy."

The embassy route lands in the same place. The Ethiopian Embassy in Brussels says this: "All applicants are required to pick up the ID cards in person at the Consular Services at the embassy."

So plan for your own trip. It will be to an ICS office in Ethiopia, or to your embassy. A power of attorney does not remove that step. This is the one job on our site that we tell you to do yourself.

Step 1: Pick your route

There are two. They ask for different papers and they charge different fees.

The first is ICS. It takes applications online, or in person at the nearest immigration office.

The second is your Ethiopian embassy or consulate. Rules vary by post. Read your own embassy page, not a general one.

Step 2: Check which proof of origin you can give

Both routes want proof that ties you to Ethiopia. Both accept more than one form of it.

ICS asks for a machine readable Ethiopian passport, or an authenticated birth certificate. Is your mother or father an Ethiopian citizen? Then it also wants a copy of their Kebele ID or passport.

The Brussels embassy asks for a valid passport from the country where you were naturalised. With it, you send two copies of the first three pages of an old Ethiopian passport, or a legalised birth certificate.

Read those lists again and note what they share. If you no longer hold an Ethiopian passport, both routes fall back to a birth certificate, and both want it authenticated.

Step 3: Gather the rest of the file

ICS also asks for four things. A filled application form. An ordinary passport valid for more than six months. A copy of your entry visa with its date stamp. And one recent passport size photo. Have you extended a tourist visa before? Then it wants a copy of the last extension too.

The Brussels embassy asks for a completed form with your name in both English and Amharic. It also wants four recent colour passport photos.

Step 4: Budget the fee

The two routes do not charge the same amount, so check the fee for the office you picked.

Office	Fee	Processing time	Source	Checked
ICS	USD 300 regular, USD 400 urgent	Not published	ics.gov.et	20 Sept 2026
Embassy, Brussels	USD 100 in cash, at the daily euro rate	Not published	ethiopiaembassy.eu	20 Sept 2026

Two things about that table matter.

You pay these fees directly to the office yourself. We never handle them, and since nobody may apply for you, they never pass through us.

Neither office publishes how long the card takes. We will not print a number no office has published. Treat any site that does with care.

Fees also differ by post. The two above are the ones we could source, on the dates shown. Your embassy may charge something else. Confirm it before you travel.

Step 5: Get the Ethiopian side documents first

This is the part that does not need you in the room.

A birth certificate has to carry the authentication stamps before either office will take it. That chain runs through offices in Ethiopia, and it does not need you in the room. A representative can walk it through under a power of attorney while you stay where you are.

That is what we sell here, and only that: the authentication run on a certificate you already hold. Our document authentication page shows how it works, and our prices show what it costs.

If you do not have the certificate at all, obtaining it is a separate job at its own published price. It is on the same price list, so you can add the two up before you decide.

Authentication chain run (DARS + MoFA): USD 99.

Our timeline (5 business days) covers our own steps only: from the day your documents reach us to the day the authenticated document leaves our hands. The office's own processing time is not published and is not part of it.

Proof on closing: scanned official receipt, scan of the stamped document.

That fee is ours alone. Official government fees are separate, and are passed on at cost with the receipt. We add nothing to them.

"Service fee refunded if SLA missed for causes within Agar's control."

What we do not do

We do not submit your Origin ID application. We do not collect the card for you. The office forbids both. Any service that offers to is selling something the issuing office says cannot happen.

We also do not advise you on whether you qualify. Ask the office that, or an advocate you retain yourself.

We do not draft powers of attorney and we do not give legal advice. What your POA must say, and whether it covers the job, is a question for the office or for an advocate you retain directly.

Sources

• Immigration and Citizenship Service, Ethiopian Origin ID. The rule that the card cannot be issued by proxy, the document list, and the USD 300 regular and USD 400 urgent service fees. Checked 20 September 2026.
• Embassy of Ethiopia, Brussels, Ethiopian Origin ID Card. The embassy document list, the USD 100 fee in cash, and the rule that applicants collect the card in person. Checked 20 September 2026.

Note: these two offices publish different fees and different document lists, and neither publishes a processing time. Ask the office you will actually use before you send anything.