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The deadline for professional expats living in the country to obtain compulsory ID cards has now been pushed back a year.
The U-turn comes after it was revealed that only 60,000 of the
estimated 600,000 expats who require the ID cards had so far applied -
with the original deadline just weeks away.
Residents needing the ID cards had been warned that bank accounts could
be frozen and health insurance cancelled if they did not apply for the
cards by the end of the year.
Registration centres across the country have been swamped with concerned expats attempting to obtain their cards.
Darwish Ahmed Al Zarouni, Director General of the Emirates Identity
Authority (EIDA), said that expatriate professionals will now be able
to register until 2010.
“I want to make it clear regarding the deadline. For UAE nationals it’s
December 31, 2008 and for expatriates it’s until 2010. Expatriate
professionals are free to register even after December this year,” said
Al Zarouni while speaking to 7DAYS.
The authority had earlier announced that any expatriates holding a degree must obtain an ID card by December 31 this year.
Al Zarouni said: “The process will be difficult from next year as there
will be thousands of people turning up for their cards. We advise
people to complete their application this year to avoid any problems.”
He added that the authority was again appealing for people to register
on time saying that “the country expects people to be disciplined and
abide by the law.”
He said that from January 15, the authority will start dealing with
other categories of expats in the country such as drivers, construction
workers and gardeners.
The news came as a relief to thousands of people who have been queuing
up in front of ID registration centres to apply for their cards, many
from the early hours.
There were chaotic scenes at the Karama post office yesterday - before
the deadline extension was announced - with hundreds of people lining
up to get an application form for their ID cards.
Indian expat Sanjay said he got up at 2am to get to the front of the queue for his ID card.
“Thankfully the deadline is now extended. It was proving very difficult to get registered in time,” he said.
Source: 7 days
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