Dubai: If you are planning to apply for a UAE residence permit and Emirates ID, or your Emirates ID is due for renewal, you may be required to submit a photograph along with the Emirates ID application.
The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) has updated the process for submitting residence permits and ID card applications electronically, requiring the applicant to also upload a photograph.
The updated regulations are in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.
In a statement to Gulf News, Nasser Ahmed Al Abdouli, Director of Customer Happiness Department at the ICP added that photographs may be rejected by the system if the requirements that have been listed are not met.
“It is only a question of taking into account the provision of personal photos based on international criteria and standards to enable their acceptance through the smart services system that is based on electronic image processing, which prevents acceptance of some of them if they do not meet the approved standards,” he said.
As per the guidelines issued by the ICP, to submit the photograph via smart systems for all age groups, the following specifications must be met:
• Image: high quality, recent, coloured, not older than six months (35 to 40 mm in width)
• Background: white.
• Features: Neutral facial expressions (natural, not exaggerated).
• Head position: Straight, not tilted, parallel to the photographic lens.
• Eyes: Open towards the camera and without the use of colored lenses.
• Glasses: Acceptable as long as they do not obscure the eyes and do not reflect light.
• Dress code: Similar to the dress on the holder's passport.
• Head covering: Allowed according to national dress or religious belief.
• Resolution (pixels): At least 600 dpi without ink traces or shrinkage
Al Abdouli added that ICP had recently held educational workshops with photo studios across the UAE with the aim of introducing them to these requirements and standards for the photographs for the Emirates ID.
“This came as a continuation of the efforts aimed at enhancing customer happiness by enabling flexibility in obtaining standards for images when capturing them at photos service providers, in preparation for supporting the steps of the procedures for inserting personal photos when submitting applications electronically.
