ID authority remains open

The Emirates Identity Authority will work through both the Islamic and Gregorian New Year holiday in a bid to keep up with demand from people registering for a national identity card. The Islamic New Year, officially a public holiday, falls tomorrow. The authority had originally said December 31 was the deadline for expatriate professionals to get their identity cards but this month pushed back that date to the end of February after being swamped by applications. Registration centres have been overwhelmed after professional expatriates were told they would not be able to access government services including health care and possibly use of the banking system, without a card after Dec 31. Expatriate professionals and anyone working for the Government are in the first tranche of workers required to get an identity card. Administrative workers, including secretaries, translators, typists and shopkeepers, as well as expatriates employed in the hotel, restaurant and tourism industries, can start to apply from March 1. relass@thenational.ae