National ID Card design finalized

Smart card to eliminate fraud, forgery

The Ministry of Interior has approved the design of the national identity card (NIC) to be issued to Nationals and Expatriates.

LT.Col. Ahmed Nassir Al Raisi, head of the Information technology department at the Abu Dhabi Police who also leads the executive committee for the NIC project, said the design and the specifications for the card were recently approved by Major General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior.

The project has been launched under the directives of President HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to stream line the demographic situation by building up a data base on all residents in the country.

French IT Company is providing the technology to design and produce the smart cards for which a contract for 194 million was signed by the ministry in February 2003.

The card will serve a wide range of purposes for its holders with easy access to the services offered by the ministries of interior, health, utility, labour and banking services.

There will be no need for resident expatriates to present their passports or driving licenses for identification, as the NIC will replace all other documents. The UAE Nationals can also travel with in GCC Countries with the card as their travel document.

The ministry of interior is coordinating with other government departments and establishments to merge their cards in to single NIC which will have a unified number that will eliminate forgery and fraud, said Al Raisi.