Deadline looms on Emirates ID cards for your children

The Emirates Identity Authority has reiterated that parents must register their children under age 15 with fines of Dh20 per day to a maximum Dh1,000 for those missing the deadline.

For expatriate residents, an original and valid individual passport with residence visa is required, as is a parent's ID card and a passport photo with a white background.

ABU DHABI // The Emirates Identity Authority is reminding parents that they must register their children who are under the age of 15 by the end of next month.

The authority has urged residents not to wait until the last minute. Fines of Dh20 a day to a maximum of Dh1,000 will be in effect from October 1.

It said there were about 1 million people, including children, who had not registered.

Dr Ali Al Khouri, director general of the authority, said parents could have the required forms filled out a typing centre without the child being there.

Dr Al Khouri said there were more than 7,350,000 people registered as of June.

"Emirates ID will complete the registration of all the UAE population by the end of this year," he said.

Documents required depend on the child's nationality. An Emirati child must have an original passport, original summary of civil status, parent's ID card and a passport photo with a white background.

For expatriate residents, an original and valid individual passport with residence visa is required, as is a parent's ID card and a passport photo with a white background.

An expired card must be presented when renewing the ID. Children more than 15 years of age must visit a registration centre for fingerprinting and photographs.

There are childcare sections for applicants and employees of the authority at seven centres: Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Ajman, Al Barsha and Al Rashidya.

The authority printed 4,044,689 cards in the first seven months of this year, compared with 1,603,899 cards in the same period last year.

The Emirates smartcard factory in Mussaffah is printing about 20,000 cards a day for the authority.

Dr Al Khouri said the linking project, a tie-in with the Emirates ID and other government entities, was 95 per cent complete.

The project will allow residents to use their ID at various ministries, including interior, justice and health.

Over the next two years, 1 million ID card readers will be distributed to several organisations. Eida expects to make available 100,000 readers this year to government bodies.