UAE | General
Delivery of national ID cards starts next week
The delivery of ID cards for people who registered in the first phase of the Population Register and National ID Card (PRNIDC) programme will start next week, a senior official said.
- By Mohammad Shamseddine, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 July 10, 2006
Abu Dhabi: The delivery of ID cards for people who registered in the first phase of the Population Register and National ID Card (PRNIDC) programme will start next week, a senior official said.
The door will be open to UAE nationals and expatriates to apply for a card starting next year following the first phase of registration for the PRNIDC programme which started in June 2005, said Dr Saeed Al Daheri, Director-General of the Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA).
President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan registered on Monday under the programme, marking the official launch of the country's new national smart ID card programme.
The first phase of the project covered 60,000 employees from 16 chosen ministries and federal institutions (50,000 UAE nationals and 10,000 expatriates).
"The delivery of ID cards for people who registered in the first phase will start from next week. Now we've opened the door for all employees of ministries and federal authorities in the UAE to register till the end of 2006," he said.
Dr Al Daheri said that from 2007, the project would be launched on a mass scale "keeping in consideration the growth rate in population (currently 8 per cent), all residents in the UAE, locals and expatriates, will be able to register for the ID card over a duration of three years in 14 registration centres that will be opened across the UAE."
There are three centres in the UAE: Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai, a fourth centre will be opened soon in the Western Region, according to Dr Al Daheri.
Five new registration centres in the country are expected to open by the end of the year in Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. The new card will be a multipurpose one, said Dr Al Daheri.
"We want to decrease the number of cards that people carry by using advanced technology in one card. This will be implemented in the future. Driving licences, health cards, labour cards, e-Gates and even the e-Dirham card will be available on the ID card," he added.
Information on the card will be documented, secured and protected from any attempt of forgery or manipulation of information, said Dr Al Daheri.
Each resident will have a national identification number on the card; the number will be fixed for each person.
If an expatriate leaves the country the card will be cancelled. However, if he decides to come back after 10 years, their number will be the same.
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