Expats to get identity cards from January

Abu Dhabi: The Emirates Identity Authority will start issuing multi-purpose identity cards to expatriates in the country from January 2008, a senior official said yesterday.

"Registration with the authority and the obtaining of ID cards will become obligatory for expatriates older than 15 years from the beginning of next year," said Darwish Ahmad Al Zarouni, Director General of Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA).

He was speaking to Gulf News after signing a cooperation agreement with Empost in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

"The validity of the card will be that of the residence period, and once a resident's visa is cancelled, his or her card will be deactivated automatically."

The charge for the card is Dh100 per year for expatriates and Emiratis and Dh50 for those 15 years or younger. It is valid for five years.

Al Zarouni added iris scans will be taken from both eyes of every citizen and resident as part of security enhancements for the ID card by mid-2008.

The card will eventually replace the driving licence, labour, residency and health cards. It will also act as an e-gate, ATM card and e-passport when crossing into other GCC countries.

At present, he said, it is mandatory for Emiratis to have an identity card under federal law No.9, 2006," Al Zarouni said.

"We try to help the citizens to satisfy this legal requirement easily by delivering the cards without any hassle."

He was referring to the agreement signed between him and Sultan Al Midfa, CEO, Emirates postal service (Empost) to deliver the cards by Empost courier service.

"We will start delivering the identity cards to nationals by Empost courier service from July 1."

FEES
How to get an identity card

The cost of the card is Dh100 per year for expatriates. A fraction of a year will be regarded as a full year for the purpose of calculating the fees.

For Emiratis, the card costs Dh100, valid for 5 years (Dh50 for 15 years or younger). Once the cards are issued, all members of UAE national families can use them to visit GCC countries. Replacement for a lost or damaged card will cost Dh300 for nationals and expatriates. In order for expatriates to register, they need to produce a valid passport with a residence visa and fill in the registration form. Emiratis must also produce a citizenship certificate (Khulasat Qaid). Registration centres are: Al Mushrif in Abu Dhabi (02- 4046688), Dubai registration centre (04-334205), Al Ain centre (03-7550777)