Authorities in the UAE are planning to set a deadline to enforce all expatriates to carry national identity cards.
The Director General of the Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA), Darwish Al Zarouni, said that all expatriates in the country should hold the national identity card for governmental, semi-governmental and private transactions towards end of 2010.
In the absence to produce the cards, the expats will not be eligible to register cars, transfer ownership of vehicles, or carry on banking transactions. They will also be unable to receive any service from government, semi-government or private organizations, from next year onwards.
Al Zarouni re-iterated that the identity card, meant to verify identity and simplify transactions is compulsory for all Emirates, beginning next year. Next month, EIDA will hold discussions regarding implementation of the system with all governmental and private organizations.
After holding talks with the Abu Dhabi Traffic Department, which culminated in making the card mandatory for Emiratis to transfer the ownership of their cars, and carry on other necessary transactions at the department, he said other departments too will follow the same, and link the card to their services that will gradually enable holders to use it as a multipurpose smart card.
Out of an approximate total population of 835,000 Emiratis, 285000 are yet to register for the ID cards. Among those unregistered, majority are children below 15 years of age. Parents coming in for registrations sometimes do not bring their children, thinking that it is not compulsory.
Al Zarouni clarified that although obtaining an identity card is optional for children below 15 years, registration with the population register is compulsory. The children will be given an identity number, which is a must for all official transactions, including educational matters.
According to Al Zarouni, EIDA will have an easy access to the database by Ministry of Labour to integrate labour cards with national identity cards, according to an agreement signed between the two.
The agreement between the EIDA and Ministry of Labour will facilitate issuance of identity cards to 3.1mn workers in the country. The officials in the Ministry said they would encourage employers to facilitate registration of their employees for identity cards.
Al Zarouni revealed that the card will eventually help holders to use it in place of driving licenses, labour cards, health facilities and travelling to GCC countries(in the case of citizens), e-gate card and e-payment cards, which offers fast-track immigration clearance using fingerprint scan and smart technology.
EIDA has been held responsible for the project, which is worth $55mn, to be issued to both citizens and expatriates towards the year 2010.
Registration procedure: Applicants are required to fill up the registration form on visiting the website www.emiratesid.ae and submit the print out at any of the 24 registration centers in the country.
Details such as the location of the centers and their duty hours, and the necessary documents required for the purpose, can be obtained by visiting the website or by calling the EIDA call center on 600 523 432.
The service charge (apart from registration fee) is Dh.500 per family, and Dh.10 for every family member, provided, all family members who are registered in the same family book or under single sponsorship.
Posted on 25/8/2008 Social Bookmarking
     
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