Eida tries to correct ID applicant errors

Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) received 80,000 erroneous applications through the certified typing centres during the past three months, a senior official told Gulf News

Abu Dhabi, Dec 19,2010 (Gulf News): If you did not receive your national ID card a long time after you completed the registration, your application may have an error.

Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) received 80,000 erroneous applications through the certified typing centres during the past three months, a senior official told Gulf News yesterday.

"We rectified the 40,000 applications so far by contacting the applicants [in required cases] but it was surprising to find that 10,000 applicants had given wrong phone numbers," Dr Ali Al Khoury, Director General of Eida, said.

"We issued verbal and written warnings to all those typing centres. Their certification will be cancelled if errors are repeated," he said.

The official said it is the duty of the applicant to verify the details typed in the e-application form.

English mistakes

When asked whether non-Arab speaking expatriates' inability to read Arabic to verify application forms caused the errors, he said: "Even we found errors like spelling mistakes etc in the English version of the details; it means even non-Arab speaking expatriates also did not verify the English version."

Eida transferred the pre-registration process to certified typing centres three months ago as part of its 2010-2013 strategy.

The official said the Eida office staff corrected mismatched details in passport and application forms themselves. "They are calling up the applicants to add omitted details [mostly mother's name etc], and to fix the improper format of pictures of children," he said.

"To avoid the delay, the staff is requesting the applicants to email the scanned pictures in proper format [in light blue colour background] directly to us," Al Khoury said.

"We have to depend on the database of the Ministry of Interior to contact the applicants [through an alternative contact number] for those who gave wrong contact numbers," he said.

Deadline: No need to panic

Eida will announce a decision this week with regard to the federal law stipulating December 31 as the deadline for expatriates to register for ID cards, Al Khoury told Gulf News. He reiterated that non-registered expatriates do not need to panic about the deadline as no penal action has been decided against them yet.

As Gulf News reported last week, the non-registered expatriates were advised to complete the pre-registration process at 700 certified typing centres across the country. "Once pre-registration [is] done at typing centres, they don't need to rush to Eida centres but they can wait for the appointment for registration," Al Khoury said.

Source : Gulf News