Emirates ID must for Abu Dhabi Visa

Abu Dhabi: All expatriates in Abu Dhabi who apply for a new residence visa or its renewal from mid-September have to first apply for a national ID card.

Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID) has already linked the visa medical tests at several Preventive Medicine Centres (PMCs) with the registration of national ID cards.

The remaining PMC's in the emirate will also be linked with the ID card registration process by mid-September, a top official told yesterday.

Expatriates must first apply for the ID card and show its receipt to undergo the medical tests as part of the visa application process, said Dr Ali Al Khoury, Director General of Emirates ID.

The official explained that an expatriate has to first complete the pre-registration process — filling out the form, paying the fee and making an appointment for registration — at a certified typing centre before the visa medical test.

Emirates ID has already linked the visa medical tests with ID card registration in Preventive Medicine Centres in Madinat Zayed, Sila, Delma and Ghaythi in the Western Region and Mussaffah in the emirate.

When the remaining PMCs in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi city are linked with the ID registration next month, the entire emirate will come under the new process.

Strategy

Abu Dhabi will be the fifth emirate to link the visa processing and ID card registration after Umm Al Quwain, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah as part of Emirates ID's 2010-2013 strategy to enrol all expatriates in the country by the end of 2013.

The Preventive Medicine Centres in free zones in Dubai and Dibba Al Hisn and Al Dhaid in Sharjah have also linked the visa medical tests with the ID registration.

The authority has already announced that all remaining PMCs across the country will be linked by the end of the year.

Two new ID card registration centres will be opened in Abu Dhabi soon, Dr Ali Al Khoury told Gulf News.

A new registration centre at the Preventive Medicine Centre at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi city will be opened very soon, he said.

Another centre in Al Baniyas on the edge of the city will also be opened by the end of this year, Al Khoury added.

Plan on fines not yet ready

The official said the plan to implement a federal government decree authorising the authority to impose a fine on residents who fail to register for ID cards has not been completed yet. "We are looking into the issue and will announce the plan soon,"Dr. Ali Al Khoury said.

A federal government decree has authorised the authority to impose up to Dh 1000 fine (Dh 20 each day) on those who fail to apply for ID card or renew it. But the authority has not disclosed what category of people will face the fine.

New registration centres in Abu Dhabi

Two new ID card registration centres will be opened in Abu Dhabi soon, Dr. Ali Al Khoury said.

A new registration centre at Preventive Medicine Centre at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi city will be opened very soon, he said.

Another centre in Al Baniyas on the skirts of the city will be opened by the end of this year, Al Khoury said.