Fines enforced for missing UAE identity card deadline

Fines will be levied within the next few days on those who failed to register on time for their UAE national identity card, it was announced on Wednesday.

So far the fines of AED1,000 ($272).will only hit the national population who were meant to have registered with the Emirates Identity Authority (EIA) by March 31.

The deadline saw long queues at registration centres across the Emirates as people put in last minute applications, according to UAE daily The National.

A total of 7,500 UAE nationals were now registered, in part due to the large great turnout on Tuesday, WAM news agency reported.

On Wednesday, Darwish Al Zarouni, director general of EIA, called on all citizens to speed up registration and obtain identity cards before the fines were effective.

He stressing that the fines would be irrevocable.

However, Thamer al Qasemi, planning director for the EID said although the deadline had passed stood, the legal mechanism by which people could be fined was not yet in place.

Until it was, no fines would be imposed, he told The National.

“We need to have the legal authority to refer people to court or the police, and until that is in place we will continue to register people even after the deadline without imposing a fine,” he said.

“We are still going back and forth with other authorities to decide what we can do. There is no news yet on how long this might take.”

At the Al Barsha centre on Tuesday many of those waiting said they had got their cards more than a year ago, but had not realised they also needed to register their children.

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