National ID Card in the UAE
The UAE has decided to issue National ID cards to all its citizens and residents. The cards they say will be biometric in nature asking for finger printing as well as retina scan. The government did not declare the reason behind such a project. However, it is clear that security has a lot to do with it.
It is well known that expatriate residents in the UAE make up more than 85% of the population. These are basically divided to two categories based on this ID initiative: professional and non-professional. Professional being anyone who is not a secretary, driver, maid or laborer.
Professionals have been asked to get their ID card before Dec 31, 2008. After that, they will not be given priority in the queue. However, problems related to registering 500,000 of these professionals between now and end December abound. The online application does not seem to work properly. News about hours of waiting and difficulty getting appointments are common.
A pre-registration form has been distributed online. However, it is quite awkward and impractical to fill. Clearly, experience in e-government is lacking on this project. Also, experience in getting things done on time is also an issue.
Interestingly, expatriates are required to pay AED 100 for each year of their residency visa while UAE Nationals are only required to pay a one time amount of AED 100. It seems that expatriates are going to be funding the ID project. So, if you have a family of four each with a 3-year residency validity, then you will have to pay 300×4 or AED 1200 excluding any forms or typing or other requirements.
To make things worse, communication of this initiative is bordering on ‘threats’ to people coupled with a lot of ‘ambiguity’. Statements like “if you don’t get an ID you might get your bank account suspended or you might not be able to do certain transactions like renew your car, etc. etc… ” Some say these won’t be implemented some say they will. Lack of clarity is the order of the day.
What also did not help, was that the federal government did not force or say to employers to take on the fee for such an act. So it is going to be funded by the residents themselves.
The problem with all of this is that residents cannot see the benefit of such an ID. What does it do for them? Why should they pay all this money every three years?
The overall feeling is that of being lost, left on their own with no proper explanation or support from those responsible.
What’s next?
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