Abu Dhabi residents to sign up for ID card today, or face a fine

All who miss deadline will be charged Dh30 per day.

Men take a number and wait in line, often for hours, to apply for their identification card at the Emirates Identity Authority.

ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi residents will face fines from tomorrow if they have not registered for new Emirates Identity cards or renewed their expired cards by the end of today.

The Emirates ID Authority (Eida) has announced that the capital's residents, who fail to meet today's deadline, will be fined Dh 20 daily.

"This is applicable for all residents," said a call centre official at the Eida. "It doesn't matter where you work. As long as your visa is from Abu Dhabi, you will be fined Dh 20 a day up to a maximum of Dh 1,000," she said.

On its website, the authority urged customers to register or renew as quickly as possible to avoid being penalised.

"Filling out an e-form at a typing centre or through its website would help the customers to avoid the announced delay fees," Eida said earlier this week. It asked customers to "visit the registration centres to complete the procedures, as per the deadline dates which appear in the electronic forms they filled".

The ID cards are part of a national initiative aimed at enhancing the national and individual security, keeping an accurate population register and providing online services.

There are also plans to link the issuing and renewal of residency visas to the ID cards in Dubai from tomorrow. Subsequently, it will be rolled out in the entire country.

Residents can fill out e-forms at a typing centre or through the Eida website.

Similarly, Dubai residents will face fines from June 1. Eida officials asked residents "not to wait until the last minute" to register.

People in Sharjah and Northern Emirates are already being fined. The deadline for Northern Emirates' residents was December 1 last year, while it was February 1 for Sharjah.

Emirati and expatriate children below 15 years of age, however, have been given time until October 1 this year to register.

Previously, Eida said that it would waive fines for Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah residents whose visa expires in 2012 and those who failed to get an Emirates ID card provided they sign up for the card when renewing their visa.