Emirates ID card  

Emirates ID card

Emirates ID card (also called the National Identity Card) is an identification card, issued by the Emirates Identity Authority (EIA) (EIDA), that all UAE citizens (optional for diplomats) and residents are required to obtain. It will be necessary to produce your Emirates ID card to use UAE government services.

Emirates ID card fines for late applications

• 17 January 2012 (Gulf News): fines are reportedly being levied from 01 January 2012 on residents who have not applied for Emirates ID cards prior to the relevant deadline (varies depending on whether Emirati or expatriate resident, and in which emirate they live). Some reports indicate fines are only applied to employees of government and semi-government organisations.
• 26 December 2011 (Gulf News): Children (age not specified but presumably up to 15 years based on previous information) exempted from fines until 01 October 2012 (not clear if this means expat or Emirati children or both).
• 14 September 2011: Fines will start being applied to Emiratis from 01 November 2011; expatriates in Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), Umm Al Quwain (UAQ) from 01 December 2011; expats in Sharjah from 01 February 2012; expats in Abu Dhabi from 01 April 2012; expats in Dubai from 01 June 2012; expatriates in any emirate who work in the government sector from 01 December 2011.
• UAE Cabinet Decision No. 25 for 2011, issued on 05 July 2011, specifies fines of AED 20 per day up to a maximum of AED 1,000 to be imposed on UAE residents who fail to obtain an Emirates ID card by the published deadlines. The decree comes into effect on 04 September 2011 according to news reports 29 August 2011. Deadline still appears to be 30 June 2011 for Emirati residents, deadline unknown for expat residents.

Emirates ID card new deadlines 2012

17 January 2012 (?) EIDA announced new Emirates ID card deadlines for expatriates with residence visas expiring in 2012.

• Residents who have not yet applied for an Emirates ID card can wait until their residence visa expiry date and apply then (we think, if expiry is in 2012). Unknown what expats with residence visas expiring in 2013 or 2014 should do. Update 28 January 2012: it appears that this new extension applies to expats whose residence visa expires after 31 December 2012, not during 2012 - The Gulf Today reported that The Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) has emphasised that the decision of the grace period for registration in the Population Register and the ID Card for the residents in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, which was previously announced, is limited to those whose residence visas expire after Dec.31, 2012.
• Residents whose Emirates ID card is due for renewal have until 31 January 2012 if in Sharjah, 31 March 2012 if in Abu Dhabi, and 31 May 2012 if in Dubai.
• The extensions do not apply to expats working in government or semi-government organisations. Fines will apply to them from 01 January 2012.

Emirates ID card new deadlines 2010-2011

• 30 June 2011 - new deadline for Emirates ID card applications for Emirati residents. Announced 25 December 2010 in EIDA press release (... its board of directors had approved a recommendation to extend the deadline for the registration of nationals in the ID card and Population Register for 6 months only to 30/06/2011). Merry Christmas.
• 31 December 2010 - deadline for expatriate residents in the UAE to apply for their Emirates ID card. However, during 2010 it was clear that it would be impossible for all expats to obtain their ID cards by this date since there were more residents without ID cards than the number of available application slots given the number of Emirates ID Card centers and the processing time required per applicant. It's not clear what the EIA plan to do about the impossibility of having all residents complete their applications before the deadline. Any sort of penalty seems unlikely to be implemented, at least for the first few months of 2011 while EIA figure out what to do.
• There were reports in mid-2010 that Emirates ID card applications would be linked to UAE residence visa renewals during 2010 and 2011. Which sounds like a much more sensible idea and why didn't EIA think of it sooner.

Emirates ID card instant delivery

• From 01 February 2012, some Emirates ID centers will offer instant delivery of ID cards after fee payment and filling in application form. This applies only to ID card renewals, not new issues. The centers are Al Wahda Registration Center and Musaffah Registration Center in Abu Dhabi, Al Barsha Registration Center in Dubai, and Sharjah Registration Centre in Al Rahmaniya. More centers are expected to start offering instant delivery after an initial trial period (Khaleej Times 30 January 2012).

Emirates ID card delivery

• 05 February 2012 - EIDA said that ID card applicants who did not collect their cards within 90 days would have to re-apply and pay a new fee of AED 300, as the original card would be destroyed.
• Update 01 January 2012 (Gulf News) - Dr Ali Al Khoury, director general of Emirates ID was reported as saying "We stopped giving new cards to courier companies recently, because they don't have enough capacity to deal with about 30,000 cards printed by the authority daily." Instead, ID cards are being delivered to Emirates Post Offices for collection by applicants.
• After processing, Emirates ID cards are supposed to be delivered by courier (Empost or Aramex) to the applicant. But in early 2011 this was not happening apparently due to a backlog of cards building up versus insufficient delivery capacity.
• Dr Ali Mohammad Al Khoury, Director-General of EIDA, said according to a Gulf News report 14 April 2011 that "We are printing more than 10,000 cards a day and the two courier service companies engaged by us have certain limitation to handle that many cards a day. That prompted us to engage Emirates Post to distribute cards through its post offices across the country."
• The same report said that Empost had been delivering ID cards since 2007, but had suspended delivery of new cards on 27 January 2011 to clear the backlog, and applicants were receiving sms text messages to collect their cards from a post office despite paying courier charges.
• Note that Empost, the courier company, is not the same as Emirates Post, although the two companies are both subsidiaries of Emirates Post Holdings.

Emirates ID card linked to residence visa

From the linking date specified, expatriates will need to have an Emirates ID card to apply for renewal of their UAE residence visa.

• Dates in italics are either unconfirmed or might not be the earliest date of announcement.
• From end of 2010 to end of 2011, the Emirates ID card (for expatriate residents) will be linked to the UAE residence visa. Meaning that visa applicants will need to have an Emirates ID card first, or Emirates ID card applicants will need to have a residence visa first, or residents will need both before applying for either, or something. Hopefully it will become apparent what it means eventually.
• On 26 February 2011, EIDA announced that RAK would be added to the list of emirates linking ID cards to residence visas from 01 March 2011. An EIDA press release said that Abdul Aziz Al Ma'amari, Director of EIDA Public Relations and Marketing, explained that the registration form sealed with the ID seal which proves registration for ID card would be a major part of the documents required to be provided by all Ras Al Khaimah residents as soon as the residence and issuance procedures are initiated in the General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs - Ras Al Khaimah. On the same day, Dr Ali Al Khoury, Director-General of EIDA, was quoted as saying "We are gradually extending the linking process through every emirate, beginning with the northern emirates"
• On 21 February 2011, The Public Relations Officer and Marketing Manager of EIDA, Abdulaziz Al Muamari was reported as saying, "beginning with the Northern Emirates, the system will gradually be extended to all over the country by the end of this year."
• On 23 January 2011, WAM reported that in Fujairah, from 30 January 2011, Residents of Fujairah will be required to present their ID card registration receipt when applying for or renewing residency visas.
• On 25 December 2010, an EIDA press release said The board also approved another recommendation to link the procedures of registration in the ID card and Population Register for all UAE residents to the residence issuance and renewal.
• On 16 September 2010, Gulf News reported that EIDA said A single application for an ID card, residence visa and labour card would be introduced in the future when the three documents would be integrated as part of a new strategy.
• On 14 August 2010 WAM news reported that the Emirates ID card application might be linked to UAE residence visa applications and renewals. Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raissi / Al Raisi, general manager of Abu Dhabi Police Central Operations and member of the Emirates Identity Authority (EIA) board, called for redoubling the efforts and accelerating the steps implementing the most important element of the New Registration Strategy which is the linkage of ID Card registration with the issuance and renewal of residence.
• On 01 June 2010, Gulf News reported that Dr Ali Al Khoury, Vice-Chairman, Higher Management Committee of EIDA, said "We have started it on Sunday on a trial basis as part of the new strategy to link the ID card registration process with the issuance and renewal of residence visa," referring to the linking of the Emirates ID card application in Umm Al Quwain (UAQ).

Emirates ID card online application form (updated 22 January 2011)

• 18 January 2012: The Emirates Identity Authority launched the online application form for expatriates (in Arabic and English). However, there have been comments seen that the form is not working properly. We didn't try it ourselves yet.
• 04 January 2012 - EIDA launched an online application form for Emiratis. A form for expatriates is expected to become available by March 2012.
• Applicants need to register first, then, according to the EIDA website, they can:
  • Apply for an Emirates ID card
  • Apply to renew an Emirates ID card
  • Apply for a replacement of a lost or damaged Emirates ID card
  • Check application status
• Online applicants can save themselves the AED 30 typing center fee.
• Passport copies can be scanned and uploaded via the EIDA website.
• Presumably applicants still have to go to an EIDA center for fingerprinting, photographing, and card collection.

Emirates ID card application process

1. Find an Emirates ID card application center.
2. Update: Start at an official typing center (see EIDA website for a list of them), bring your passport and money, fill in an application form and get it typed out. Then you will be given an appointment to go to an Emirates ID center in a few days ... or weeks ... or months. Go to the Emirates ID center as soon as you like anyway, you might get lucky. After the Emirates ID center business (photo and fingerprinting), they'll tell you that they'll send an sms when your card is ready for collection - from an Emirates Post center (possibly a long way from where you applied or where you live). Apparently Empost send up to 6 sms messages to notify you. You might or might not get them. Good luck.
3. Go there and try to apply for an Emirates ID card. They will probably give you an application form to fill in, or tell you to download it from the website and fill it in, then make an appointment via the website, then go to an official typing center to fill in the application form properly, then wait for a sms text message notifying you of your appointment, then return to the Emirates ID card center to complete your application. Or something like that.
4. Or if you're (update end 2010: very very very) lucky, you'll be able to complete everything there when you visit.
5. Or if you prefer to follow the official procedure, you could apply online for an appointment, fill in an application form, go to a typing center to get it filled in again properly, and wait for an sms notifying you of your appointment date and time. But don't blame us if that's not correct. We don't really know what's going on either.
6. Or, you could wait it out until Emirates ID Authority decides this is all not working out very well and they'll let you do the Emirates ID card when your residence visa comes up for renewal. Unless they try to force everyone to apply for a card immediately by disconnecting mobile phones (almost everyone has at least one or two) until you get your ID card.

• Typing centers may or may not want to keep your passport in an insecure pile of passports on a table somewhere. To avoid this, don't apply for an Emirates ID card, or find another typing center (there are only a limited number of official ones though), or find another Emirates ID card center and try and start the process again.
• The sms reminder of your appointment might come unexpectedly the day before your appointment (or even the same day). Or not at all. Or it might give you the wrong date.
• It is rumoured that there are some people who have successfully applied for and received their Emirates ID card. And a few of them even claim the EIA center staff were polite and helpful.

Emirates ID card uses and organisations that require you to have an Emirates ID card

Note that have been reports of organisations that require applicants to have an Emirates ID card, but it turns out when you go there that having the ID card seems to confuse things. For example Dubai driving licence and Dubai car registration (at least in 2010).

• Babies born in the UAE will not receive a birth certificate unless their parents have an ID card, from mid 2012. Emirates 24-7 on 02 January 2012 quoted EIDA Director-General Ali Khoury as saying "EIDA will take new measures at the start of the second half of this year, including linking it to birth certificates and coordination with all schools not to accept any new students of all nationalities unless they are registered in the ID"
• Dubai Courts announced in April 2009 that an Emirates ID card would be needed for all transactions.
• Dubai Municipality announced in October 2010 that all employees must have an Emirates ID card.
• Dubai Metro monthly passes - applicants for the Blue Nol Card Monthly Pass need to have an Emirates ID card according to RTA comments reported 18 August 2011.
• Internet cafes - The UAE newspaper Emarat Al Youm reported 28 April 2010 that all public internet cafes and other access venues would be required to ask customers for their Emirates ID card to help the UAE Ministry of Interior reduce or eliminate cyber-crime, pornography, and child sex abuse. The Secretary-General of the UAE Interior Ministry, Major General Nasser Lakhraibani (Al Khuraibani / La Khreibani) Naimi (Naser Salem Al Khreibani Al Neimi), said this would "develop levels of awareness and protection of children against the potential risks from the use of the internet."
• School students will need Emirates ID cards from mid-2012 to register for the new academic year (news reports 02 January 2012). Not clear if this applies to state or private schools or both.
• School students at state schools in Abu Dhabi will need an Emirates ID card from January 2012 to register - this applies to new students at present, not returning students. Mohammad Salem Al Dhaheri, Executive Director of School Operations at the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), was quoted by The National on 19 January 2012 as saying "The ID card is a new requirement from this year and will be one of the documents parents will have to hand in if they want an admission at schools." But then the Khaleej Times reported 30 January 2012 that "The council [ADEC] requested parents to provide the ID card among the documents necessary for registering their children, whether nationals or residents, in all academic stages between kindergartens and grade 12," implying that the ID card would be required for students at private schools also.

Emirates ID card and voting in the FNC elections

An emirates ID card is required for those voting in the UAE Federal National Council (FNC) elections? Only applicable to Emiratis.

• Ajman (2011 elections) - some voters were turned away (unknown how many) because they did not have an Emirates ID card (reported in The National 25 September 2011).

Emirates ID card update Summer 2010

• Gulf News reported 02 August 2010 that only 25% of UAE residents had their ID card yet and should sign up during summer 2010.
• The application process has been improved and is now faster, and the processing capacity in the UAE will increase from 7,500 to 20,000 people per day as new registration centers are opened.
• The Acting General Manager of the Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA), Dr Ali Al Khoury, said "The latest figures suggest that the UAE population is 8.2 million [both Emiratis and expatriates] and more than two million residents out of them have already registered for ID cards,"
• Dr Al Khoury is using rather generous UAE population figures in his comment. The actual population could vary from about 4m to 8m depending on who you believe. However, if he is correct, and all centers operate at maximum capacity, that still means it will take another 10 months for the remaining 6 million people to be registered. A more realistic estimate might be 18-24 months.

Emirates ID Card new application procedure (from August 2010?)

1. You or a representative (e.g. company PRO) should go to a certified typing center with original passport and copy, and complete the pre-registration process.
2. Pay fee at typing center, they will complete application form and return it to you with a bar code for your follow-up appointment.
3. Appointmet time and date sent by SMS to applicant (should be within 48 hours of completing pre-registration).
4. Go to the Emirates ID center to get photographed, fingerprinted, and to sign the registration application.
5. EIDA will send you the new ID card by courier. Update 2011: or they won't because there are too many cards to deliver apparently.

• New registration centers might include Preventive Medicine Centers, and application forms might be available at UAE post offices (The National 10 May 2010).
• New procedure can be followed in Abu Dhabi by mid-2010, and other emirates by September 2010. A 08 August 2010 report in the Gulf News quoted Dr Ali Al Khoury, Acting General Manager of EIDA, as saying "We will complete certifying 40 typing centres — 10 each in Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain and Ajman by August 15, Dubai and Sharjah will have 50 typing centres — 25 each in both emirates by September 15"

Emirates ID card background and other information

On 08 September 2007, the Gulf News reported that Darwish Ahmad Al Zarouni, the director-general of the EIA, said "This will be the social security number of the individuals and will determine the identity for any services, including residency, labour, social security, immigration and healthcare, ... The ID card will replace all other card one possesses, including the labour card and the e-gate cards and will be linked to the country's immigration, labour, healthcare, law enforcing agencies."

On 05 November 2009, the UAE Ministry of Interior published a statement that said "the ID Card is a now condition for any service provided to UAE nationals and residents through the Ministry’s various security authorities and police general departments & headquarters in all Emirates. These directions will go into effect as of November 22, 2009. Only residents in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharja are exempted from this obligation for the time being until further notice." Which was somewhat confusing since previous information had indicated the deadline for expat residents was end of 2010. It still seems to be a bit random as to whether or not you need to present your Emirates ID card, or sometimes whether or not it's of any use if you do.

• In reality, taking your freshly minted Emirates ID card along to help the process of obtaining or renewing car registration, driving licence, health card, etc might not work quite as intended or expected.
• Bring your passport and copies along anyway in case the government department you visit hasn't quite caught up with the Emirates ID card yet.
• The National Identity Card is optional for UAE nationals working as diplomats according to an announcement on the EIDA website dated 07 August 2010: Emirates Identity Authority announced that diplomat registration in the ID Card and Population Register is optional due to the speciality of diplomatic work and the nature of laws and regulations organizing their work and residence in the UAE.

Emirates ID registration dates

• 2012 - confusing (as usual) reports of extended deadlines of 31 January 2012 (or 01 February 2012) for Sharjah residents, 31 March 2012 (or 01 April 2012) for Abu Dhabi residents, 31 May 2012 (or 01 June 2012) for Dubai residents. Confusion because it's not clear if that applies to renewals or new issues or both. Some reports seem to say that residents with residence visas coming up for renewal after 2012 can wait until then to apply. Fines are being applied from late 2011 for non-renewal of, or not applying for, Emirates ID card depending on emirate of residence, nationality (expat or emirati), and/or employer (government, federal, private, etc).
• End of 2010 - all expat residents should have completed ID card registration.
• 28 July 2010 - Emirates ID requests the UAE Ministry of Interior to make Emirates ID card compulsory for use at Abu Dhabi traffic departments, and subsequently at Dubai and Sharjah traffic departments.
• November 2009 - Emirates ID card becomes compulsory for use at traffic departments in Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain. Allegedly.
• March 2010 - The National reports that Emirates ID application process will be improved and more centers will be opened to increase capacity from 7,000 to 20,000 persons per day. EIDA Chairman, General Ahmed Al Raisi, said "Instead of going back and forth between departments, the person will go to one place only and the process will be over in five minutes."
• End of 2008 - all Emirati nationals should have completed ID card registration.
• October 2008 - expats in the government sector should have completed registration.
• 01 July 2008 - registration starts for expat professionals meaning all university degree holders other than labourers.
• 01 June 2008 - registration starts for all expatriate employees of federal and local government organisations.

Emirates ID card registration costs, fees, and charges

• Payment is made to the typing center from mid 2010 in Abu Dhabi, and by mid-September 2010 (maybe) in other Emirates.
• Typing centers are only supposed to charge an additional AED 70 processing fees (or less) according to EIDA. Dr Ali Al Khoury, Acting General Manager of Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) said in a Gulf News report 08 August 2010 "We have received complaints that some of the certified typing centres have been taking more service charge for the pre-registration process than the approved amount" and that applicants should report typing centers that overcharge, tel 600-523432 in UAE.
• UAE nationals - AED 100 for 5 years. Update - might be AED 70 per year (GN report 02 August 2010)?
• UAE nationals on social security - free
• Expatriate residents - AED 100 per year or part year, validity depends on period remaining on residence visa e.g. if 1 year and 3 months remaining, then ID card valid for 1 year and 3 months but you have to pay for 2 years or AED 200. We think.
• Expatriate children under 15 years of age - registration is required but free, ID card is optional and costs AED 50.

Emirates ID card and e-gate card

• An Emirates ID card can be activated as an e-gate card after payment of a fee of AED 150 at one of the EIDA centers.

Emirates ID suggestion reward system

• Gulf News reported on 04 July 2008 that EIDA announced a rewards system for residents EIDA staff making suggestion to improve the Emirates ID card system.
• The rewards come in the form of points which can then be exchanged for prize money or letters of appreciation.
• Register online at the EIDA website to make your suggestions.
• Unknown how many points you get for suggesting the Emirates ID card system is a bad idea and should be binned completely.

Emirates ID card application form online download

• The Emirates ID website has an online pre-registration form available for download ... sometimes. It's probably less stressful not to bother and just fill in the form at the Emirates ID registration center.
• The National reported on 05 May 2010 that there were some issues with the Emirates ID online form:
  • Downloading timed out several times
  • Odd sounding form fields such as "English Famous Name"
  • Need to know exact date of university graduation (not just month and year)
  • Mismatch between field entries for online and printed version of form
  • List of organisations, occupations, and suburbs were incomplete and/or included options that didn't make sense

Emirates ID Authority (EIDA) contact information

• Tel 600-523432 (not a toll-free number)
• See EIDA contact for more details.

Last update Sunday 05-Feb-2012. Page development 4L 5C.

Related pages

• Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) - the issuing agency for the Emirates ID cards. Office locations and contact details.

Related websites (new window)

• www.emiratesid.ae - Emirates Identity Authority and Emirates ID card website
• Dubai directory - add your link free

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