IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

The Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) will launch a suite of e-services this month, according to a statement issued on Saturday.

The launch is part of Eida's ongoing efforts to enhance its online services and elevate customer experience to international standards.

The Emirates Identity Authority has announced the redeployment of data on the backside of the Emirates ID cards in preparation for adding new data in future. This is part of the authority’s efforts at widening the scope of the use of the ID cards and activating it as the principal reference for the identification and authentication of individual identities.

The Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) has fixed a five-year validity for Emiratis' national ID card because of the five-year life span of the electronic chip in the card, the authority said Wednesday in a statement.

The life span of the electronic chip in the national ID card is five years, Eida said.

There may be biological changes in an individual due to ageing which affected biometrics such as fingerprinting, an authority statement said.

Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID) will divert its focus to e-government initiatives, following the completion of enrolment of all UAE residents in population register and national ID cards.

The advanced ID systems developed by Emirates ID play a great role in enabling the e-government projects, particularly the e-link with all government entities and the digital ID project. The ultimate goal is to offer government services to customers through mobile devices.

This will bring to 62 the number of the Emirates ID’s registration centres across the UAE.

The Emirates ID said the opening of the two new centres in Abu Dhabi comes as part of its plans aimed at rendering its services closer to customers across the UAE, noting that the new centres would provide their services to customers in the morning period as per the prior appointment system.

The move is expected following completion of the population register and electronic linkage system by next year. However, there is no obligation on any of the government entities to replace their cards with the ID cards.

The card costs Dh170 per year, which also includes typing and processing charges. The new ruling will come into force after the ID issuance for expats is linked to their permanent residency permits by mid of this year.

An official source confirmed the new ruling will come into force, but was not sure from when. According to him, it was likely that employers will be asked to bear the cost of ID cards of their expatriate employees after their registration was linked to residency permits.

The council 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.

According to a decision by the Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA), all children under the age of 15 are now obliged to have an Emirates Identity Card. This had previously been optional, as children only needed to be entered into the population register.

The deadline for obtaining the ID for the children of citizens is the end of June. Officials from EIDA explained that “there are only a few locals who did not [get an ID] yet. That is why we set a deadline.” No penalties for missing the date will be imposed, but the EIDA hopes that there will be no need for punitive measures.

Abu Dhabi: About 3.75 million national ID card holders in the country had received a PIN (personal identification number) along with their cards but never got a chance to use it, said a senior official.

They will be able to use the PIN soon to access online services of government and private sector as the Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID) is in the final stages of building infrastructure for electronic services, Dr Ali Al Khoury, Director General of Emirates ID, told Gulf News Sunday.

Abu Dhabi Government will be the first one in the country to utilise that electronic infrastructure to offer about 600 e-government services to the ID card holders, he added.

Applicants can fill in the application form easily and conveniently through its website in 10 easy steps within 10 minutes, according to the authority.

Filling the form online can help save an applicant Dh30 in typing fees.

Dubai eGovernment Department (DeG), has announced its readiness for transformation into a smart government in line with the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and its commitment to the instructions of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council.

Residents will soon be able to apply for national ID cards online without the need to visit typing centres.

The Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID) will launch the online application system next month for Emiratis, an official spokesman told Gulf News yesterday. “Expatriates will be able to use the online application from February,” he added.

Starting next week, customers can track the progress of their application for a new Emirates ID card or renewal of an existing card through the ‘instant tracking service’ at EIDA’s website, www.emiratesid.ae.

The tracking system will provide complete and accurate information on the real-time status of the application from the moment the application is submitted to authorised typing centres, and the printing and actual delivery of cards. A new call centre with interactive voice response (IVR) facility will also be created to respond to customer queries, and a new toll free number 600 530003 will replace the previous EIDA call centre numbers. By the end of September 2011, EIDA registration forms for the Population Register and ID Card will also be available on its website.

Activation of the e-gate service costs Dh150 for two years on the ID card, while one has to shell out Dh200 for two years for an e-gate card.

According to Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) website, the fee (new subscribers) for activating the e-gate service on ID card is Dh150 for a period of two years, while the renewal fee for a two-year period is also Dh150.

In an interview with "Khaleej Times", Al Khouri said that the biggest result is that in 2010 EIDA was able to enroll 47 per cent of the population, a big jump. EIDA's main focus is to enroll the entire population and make sure every individual gets an ID card in an easy, convenient way.

"The work of producing biometric passports is part of the process of modernising the administration and improving the security of documents needed by Algerian citizens for their daily lives," Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said at the January 4th launch ceremony.

The high-tech Algeria biometric passport contains an electronic chip with information about the holder, including a digitised photograph, fingerprints and signature.

According to the Chief of the Passport and Visa Department of RA Police Norayr Muradkhanyan, the implementation of biometric/electronic passports will help avoid a number of problems at checkpoints.

The electronic passports include the same information as the current passports plus the fingerprints. ID cards will be used inside the country, while the biometric passports are necessary for leaving abroad.

Social security cards are expected to come out of use after the implementation of documents with biometric data. Their number will be posted on ID cards and biometric passports.