2.1 million applications for issuing ID cards received in 4 month, up by 126 per cent over same period in 2011

The Emirates Identity Authority unveiled that it received around 2.1 million applications for issuing ID cards (new and renewal) in the first 4 months of this year, up by 126 per cent over the same period last year in which a total of 934,000 applications were received.

The Emirates Identity Authority pointed out that the growth in number of transactions for issuing ID cards at such a high percentage reflected the increasing response to registration in the population register and ID card system within the framework of the registration deadlines for completing the registration of all the UAE population. This would help achieve the Emirates Identity Authority’s vision as embodied in becoming the major reference for confirming the personal identity and providing demographic data in the UAE, it added.

According to the Emirates Identity Authority’s statistics, a total of 1.55 million applications for issuing ID cards for the first time (new) were received by the Emirates ID over the past 4 months of 2012 compared with around 820,000 transactions during the same period last year.

More than 558,000 renewal applications were received by the Emirates Identity Authority over the first 4 months of this year compared with around 71,000 applications for the same period last year.

The Emirates Identity Authority clarified that the growing number of registration applications coincided with the expiry of the registration deadlines specified for Sharjah residents on February 1 and Abu Dhabi residents on April 1, not to mention the starting countdown for the expiry of the registration deadline specified for Dubai residents by the end of May.

Reiterating its call for Dubai residents to speed up registration and renewal of expired ID cards before the end of this month, the Emirates Identity Authority affirmed that filling out the registration form at the typing centers would help customers avoid the delay fees to be applicable across the emirate from June 1.

The Emirates Identity Authority underlined the necessity for adhering to the appointments specified for visiting its centers to complete registration procedures (fingerprinting and photographing) as shown in the application form or the SMS sent to customers after their application forms had been filled out.

Meanwhile, the Emirates Identity Authority called on new expatriates who do not hold residence to fill out the registration form at a typing center and then visit the registration center attached to the preventive medicine center immediately after conducting the medical examination. The Emirates Identity Authority also called on the owners of residences that expire before December 31, 2012 in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah to register in the ID card by the time of their residence renewal procedures.

As for children under 15 years of UAE nationals and residents, the Emirates Identity Authority affirmed that this category should register all over the UAE before October 1.

The Emirates Identity Authority praised the role of government and semi-government entities which gave their instructions to adopt the ID card as a main document for benefiting from their services, adding that this played a key role in the rise in number of registrants and in the issuance and renewal of ID cards.