Saif Bin Zayed issues two decisions on ID card fees and exemptions

His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and Deputy Chairman of the Emirates Identity Authority, has issued two decisions with respect to the exemption from the fees of extra services and the fines of administrative delay as stipulated in the Cabinet’s decision no. 25 for 2011.

Below are the wording of the two decisions that were published in the last edition of the official gazette for March 2012:

1-    Decision no. 2 for 2012:

A number of cases have been resolved to be exempted from the fees of administrative delay observed by the Emirates Identity Authority for non-issuance or non-renewal of ID cards. Other cases have been exempted from the fees of extra services, while extra fees have been imposed on some other services provided by the Emirates Identity Authority.

Under the decision, a number of cases are exempted from the fees of extra services stipulated in the decision no. 25 for 2011 (“mobile vehicle service” and “urgent service” for registration without obtaining a prior appointment for the issuance and renewal of ID card for all sections and age categories). The exempted cases are:

• Total or partial disability cases or clinical pathologic cases, if proved by a certificate issued by the competent authorities in the UAE.
• Old people who are unable to visit registration centers at any part of the UAE as per the cases determined by the competent department at the Emirates Identity Authority.
• UAE VIPs; a list of this category exempted from fees will be issued by the Emirates Identity Authority Director General.

The decision has also exempted the following 5 cases from the administrative delay fees stipulated in the decision no. 25 for 2011:

• Any individual who has left the UAE and spent more than 6 months outside the UAE or any resident whose residence has expired while outside the UAE and whose ID card has expired after departure. A fine, however, will be due in case an individual has not obtained an ID card or his/her ID card has expired before leaving the UAE. The fine will cover the period between the date of entry or ID card and the departure date.
• Any individual, whose ID card has expired after being deported by an administrative order or decision or by a court verdict by the competent entities for the period that follows his/her departure. The fine, however, will be due in case an individual has not obtained an ID card or whose ID card has expired before leaving the UAE. The fine will cover the period starting from the date of entry or date of deportation. If deported before this decision has been released, an individual will be exempted from all delay fines due for non-issuance or non-renewal of the ID card.
• Any deceased or individual with a communicable disease, whether he/ she has not been issued an ID card or his/her ID card has not been renewed for the period starting from the date of death or the date at which the communicable disease has been confirmed. In case no ID card has originally been issued to the individual, a fine will be due for the period from the date of entry to the UAE to the date of issuance of the medical certificate confirming the communicable disease. The fine will also be due from the date the disease is proved to have disappeared from the individual, whether for the issuance or renewal of the ID card.
•  Any individual who has not been issued an ID card for the period before or after he/ she has obtained the UAE passport and before he has obtained a summary of civil status.
• Any delay caused by an error in attachments or by the Emirates Identity Authority or any of its employees or any of the typing centers assigned by the Emirates Identity Authority and resulting in a delay in ID card registration or renewal.

As per the decision, a committee titled “deciding committee” will be formed under the chairmanship of the Emirates Identity Authority Director General and will include as members the representatives of the competent segments at the Emirates Identity Authority, provided that the number of the committee members will be no less than 5 including the chairman. The committee will be assigned to:

• Determining any other cases that have not been referred to in this decision so as to be added later on if the committee has reached the conclusion that they deserve to be added or can be exempted from fees.
• Preparing a monthly report on the exempted cases and the incurred amounts, provided that this report will be presented to the Emirates Identity Authority board of directors.

2-    Decision no. 3 for 2012

The decision no. 3 for 2012 has stipulated the imposition of fees on the extra services provided by the Emirates Identity Authority at typing centers when issuing or renewing ID cards or submitting applications for ID cards in lieu of lost or damaged ones for UAE nationals and residents and GCC countries of all age categories against any transaction made in the ID card registration system, provided that the fees will be given to the entities contracted with the Emirates Identity Authority for the provision of these services.

The fees are AED10 for designing the registration form and AED30 for verifying the data inputted in the registration form and the attached documents. These fees belong to the company contracted for the provision of the service. A fee of AED30 is imposed for printing the registration form at the first typing center and AED5 for printing the amendment to the registration form at any other typing center. These fees belong to the typing center.

The decision stipulates that the Emirates Identity Authority’s customers should visit the registration centers immediately when notified by the Emirates Identity Authority of the related dates. It also stipulates that no fees that have already been paid by customers will be recovered in case customers have failed to come for two consecutive times. The Emirates Identity Authority Director General may at his discretion set a final date for those who have failed to come to register again without paying new registration fees.

Fees are collected by the mechanism set by the Ministry of Finance in co-ordination with the Emirates Identity Authority. the fees indicated in the decision may be modified based on a suggestion by the Emirates Identity Authority Director General following co-ordination with the Ministry of Finance.