DUBAI: Forget about your National ID card landing on your desktop or work place. Instead, get ready to pick it up from the nearest post office when the card is ready, a senior Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) official has said, following the suspension of ID card deliveries through private courier firms.
Aisha Al Rayesi, Project Manager for Planning & Quality at Emirates ID, has told XPRESS that Eida has "suspended the delivery of ID cards through courier companies and cancelled delivery charges".
The Dh20 delivery charge levied to registrants in the past has now been scrapped, she said. Aisha was responding to complaints by registrants about non-delivery of the cards to the address stated in their application form.
ID card applicants currently pay a Dh70 service charge if applying through typing centres, in addition to annual fees (Dh100 for each year of residence for expatriates; Dh100 for five years for Emiratis and GCC nationals).
Aisha clarified that Eida is not charging any fees to deliver ID cards, and that Dh40 is the service charge prescribed by Federal Law No 3 for 2012. The Dh30 fee is for typing.
Registrants receive an SMS stating their card had been "printed and dispatched to a courier … you will receive SMS from them to define the card delivery location".
This messaging system is apparently creating false hope for some.
An Asian ID card applicant said: "We're told the service charge includes courier service fee, but then I was asked to collect my ID from the Karama post office."
Aisha said the authority bears the costs of delivering ID cards to their owners through the postal offices of Emirates Post Holding Group across the UAE following a deal signed at the end of 2011.
Under the agreement, Emirates Post will receive ID cards from Emirates ID and will send SMS messages to customers within 48 hours. Customers are then asked to pick up their cards from an Emirates Post centre or private mailboxes.
E-form for all
Eida has recently unveiled an e-form, thus enabling applicants to fill up the form from home or office - and avoid the Dh30 typing charge. The site is aimed for first-time applicants, as well as renewals, replacement, or to check application status. The service is now open to expatriates, according to an Emirates ID spokesperson.
To apply for Emirates ID card online, log on to: http://online.iform.ae/Modules/AppSecurity/EIDAReg.aspx
