Deadline for ID Card registration extended for Dubai’s residents

The Emirates Identity Authority has announced the extension of the deadline for registering Dubai population in the ID card for one extra month after taking into consideration the conditions of the emirate’s workers who have not been able to register yet so as to help them avoid delay fees.

The Emirates ID unveiled that it received 3.3 million transactions for issuing ID cards over the first five months of 2012 including one million (new and renewal) forms that were filled out in May, this being the highest number of forms received by the Emirates ID in one month since registration started in 2005.

The Emirates ID said it decided to extend the deadline for registering the ID card for the holders of residences issued in Dubai for one month up to June 30, noting that this initiative was in response to the calls received through its website and its pages on the social networking sites and through the mass media.

The Emirates ID added that the deadline was extended despite its success in registering around 90 per cent of Dubai population as part of the registration deadline for the Dubai residents which was over May 31. The Emirates ID said its affiliated centers did not witness any abnormal crowds, attributing the crowds witnessed by the Dubai-based typing centers in the last week of the deadline to the culture of “waiting till the last minute”.

The Emirates ID clarified that the majority of the remaining section of Dubai population who had not been able yet to register in the ID card belongs to the category of workers, noting that the one month extension of the deadline took into consideration the conditions of this category and was aimed at helping it avoid delay fees.

The Emirates ID affirmed that the given deadline till the end of June would be quite enough for adjusting the conditions of Dubai population who have not registered yet and whose residences expire after December 31, 2012. This is because the first stage of registration that relieves customers of delay fees is limited to filling out the registration or renewal form at an authorized typing center or through the Emirates ID’s website before visiting a registration center as specified by the customer on the application form by the date given in the registration form or the SMS received on the customer’s mobile phone.

The Emirates ID pointed out that the one-off extension of the deadline in Dubai confirms again that the “deadlines decision”, which covered all the emirates and was announced in September 2011, proved to be successful in speeding up the registration of the UAE population. It also confirms that it was aimed at completing the population register system and the ID card project, which allow the Emirates ID to switch gradually to linking the ID card with the transactions and services provided by the government and private organizations as a means of identification and confirmation of the identity of individuals and a condition for benefiting from these services, the Emirates ID added.

The Emirates ID noted the UAE population’s response and adherence to the issuance of the ID card within the deadlines, adding that completing the population register system and the ID card project as per the Emirates ID’s strategic plan 2010-2013 would contribute to speeding up the pace of development and growth in the UAE, supporting the projects emanating from the eGovernment plan 2014 and achieving the federal government’s strategy and the UAE Vision 2021.

The Emirates ID called on the private sector companies operating in Dubai to seize this last opportunity by co-operating with it and co-ordinating with the directors of its affiliated centers to complete the procedures of registering their workers in the upcoming period, provided that they adhere to the prior appointment system and avoid transporting workers in buses to the registration centers without prior appointment or co-ordination.

The Emirates ID pointed out that underlining the necessity for customers to adhere to prior appointments to complete registration procedures in its affiliated centers is aimed at avoiding any crowds that would prevent the provision of high-quality services to customers. It is also aimed at finalizing the transaction of each customer coming on time within a maximum of 10 minutes and at ensuring the convenience of families, ladies and inhabitants living near registration centers.

The Emirates ID reminded the holders of residences that would expire before December 31, 2012 in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah that they should register in the ID card by the time of the residence renewal procedures.

The Emirates ID called on new expatriates who have no residence to fill out a registration form and then visit one of the registration centers attached to preventive medicine centers to complete registration procedures (fingerprinting and photographing) immediately after the medical examination as per the procedure followed all over the UAE based on the linkage project between the ID and the residence.