1 day to Dubai ID deadline: Eida clarifies who is exempt

Like every Dubai resident, even house-helps and nannies are required to register for their Emirates ID cards, confirmed an official at the Emirates Identity Authority (Eida), just a day before the May 31 deadline for Dubai kicks in.

“If someone lives in Dubai, or Abu Dhabi, or Sharjah, and don’t have an ID card, and the validity of their residency expires during 2012, they must apply for the ID card along with the renewal of their residency procedures.

“And this will not cost them any fine,” he confirmed.

In case, the visa of a house-help and nanny, sponsored for a year, expires before December 2012, then they will be except from Dubai deadline of May 31.

This means they need not pay penalty of Dh20 per day, up to a maximum of Dh1,000.

Eida had earlier stated that residents whose residence visas expire this year can renew their national IDs then. “This is done to ease the burden on the residents.

“They can go in at one-time and finish the entire process, instead of repeating it just two months later,” stated Diyaa Abdul Al, senior officer media and communications at Eida.

Don’t Panic

Eida has also provided Dubai residents with a brochure titled “Don’t Panic”, which is translated into nine languages, explaining the registration procedure.

They have also launched an ad campaign, across newspapers, the Dubai Metro, social media channels and via mobile text messages, in an effort to spread awareness, elaborated Ayesha Al Rayesi, Project Manager, Planning & Quality, Acting PR and Marketing manager at Eida.

Eida has also urged UAE nationals and residents to register their children, aged below 15 years, before October 1, 2012, after which they will be fined.

“Yes, it is mandatory for all under-15s, nationals and residents, to register before the deadline, failing which they will be charged a penalty of Dh20 per day, up to a maximum of Dh1,000,” clarified Diyaa.

The fees for Emiratis are Dh100 for 5 years, plus Dh70 for typing fee and other charges, and for expats, it is Dh100 for every year, plus Dh70 for typing and other charges.

Show up on time, be done in 10 mins

Eida said that it aims to ensure there are no jams that prevent quality service and aims to end the procedure for any person arriving on time within 10 minutes, maximum, and to ensure families and women are not inconvenienced.

Eida has also called on private sector companies in Dubai to ensure registration procedures for employees is complete.

Eida has also asked companies in Dubai not to transfer employees en masse to registration centers without an appointment.

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Emirates ID extends time to collect cards from post offices

Abu Dhabi Crowding at some post offices across the country to collect national ID cards has prompted the authorities to announce new measures to ease card distribution.

The Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID) Wednesday said it has extended the deadline to collect the cards from post offices up to 90 days, instead of one month.

Wednesday, Emirates Post also started sending the ID cards to the companies of the applicants by courier, if there are more than five cards to be sent to a company, an official spokesman for Emirates ID told on Wednesday.

The cards will also be distributed through self-service kiosks very soon, he said.

The authority extended its apology to applicants who faced difficulty receiving their cards from the Central Post Office in Madinat Zayed in Abu Dhabi City during the past few days due to overcrowding. This particular post office has been crowded because most of the Abu Dhabi residents opted to collect their cards here, the spokesman said.

More than two million cards have been delivered during the first quarter of 2012, compared to 500,000 during the same period in 2011.

Self-service kiosks

The ID cards will be sent to the post boxes of individual applicants also. Since most of the applicants work with a particular organisation having a post box number, the card will be sent to that post box also. Providing the post box number in the application form is mandatory.

The self-service kiosks will start working for Emiratis in the first stage at four selected centres across the country. They will enable ‘on the spot printing' of ID cards and immediate delivery to the applicants.

The authority is working on introducing electronic kiosks which will renew ID cards the same day. They will be installed at shopping malls across the country in future, the spokesman said.

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Stricter new tenancy rules in Sharjah

Sharjah Strict new tenancy rules have come into force in Sharjah, where tenants must now declare their salaries and relationships to people living with them.

Only tenants who live with family members and make at least Dh4,000 a month will be allowed to rent units in residential areas. To prove this, they must produce government-issued labour contracts and documents like marriage certificates and passport copies of co-tenants.

Also, the unit must be big enough for all family members living there.

However, it was not clear how officials would make that assessment. It's understood each unit must have a specific number of rooms according to the number of family members living together.

Meanwhile, low-income "bachelors" will only be allowed to live in "industrial areas" after showing a no-objection certificate from their employer. They will be allowed to share rooms, but subletting will not be tolerated.

Those failing to meet these requirements will not have their tenancy contracts attested by the municipality. Failing to attest the tenancy contract, which includes a two per cent annual housing fee on the value of the rent, carries a fine for each year it is not attested. Officials can cut off power and water supply to units whose contracts are unattested.

A Sharjah Municipality official, on condition of anonymity, said the new rules have been in effect for a month.

A 33-year-old Pakistani resident of Shaba district, who shifted apartments recently, said he was asked by the real estate agent to list all family members who would be living with him — his mother, wife and brother. "I thought ‘that's strange.' I went to the municipality and I was told to ‘bring the labour contract, marriage certificate and [families'] passport copies too'. No one told me it's a new rule," he said.

"You only find out when it's time for your tenancy renewal or when you are getting a new place, which means you'll be turned back because you won't have all documents with you."

Another tenant, who visited the Tenancy Contract Attestation Office at Al Khan on Tuesday, said he was not informed of the new regulations. "They told me to go to the main office [in Government Square]. I don't know what's going on," he added.

However, bachelors, mostly south Asians in low-income jobs, said rents in limited units in industrial areas have skyrocketed on the back of the evictions seen last month. "It's going to be hard to find a place as a single guy in residential areas now, even if you make good money. Some tenants had turned this into a business, subletting the place to bachelors," the municipality official said.

To rent a flat you need…

• Attestation of the tenancy contract [Dh50]
• Passport copies [tenant, landlord, family members]
• Marriage certificate [for couples]
• Labour contract [attested by Ministry of Labour]
• Employer NOC [for bachelors]
• Two per cent housing fee

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