Emirates ID card must be updated after marriage, urges ministry

Emaduddin Khalil, Staff Reporter

The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) has stressed the necessity for customers to replace or update their ID cards when they get married as the wife’s surname for some nationalities residing in the UAE is changed after marriage.

If no change has occurred in the wife’s surname, the person concerned must visit an ICP affiliated customer service centre and bring the necessary documents to update the data in the ID card and in the Population Register Programme, the ICP said.

For Emiratis and Gulf citizens, the data in the Population Register Programme and the ID card must be updated within no more than 30 days from the date the son or daughter has reached 15 years of age.

To do so, they must visit an ICP affiliated customer service centre and submit a request for this purpose in order for the son’s fingerprints to be captured and all the data required to be amended to be updated, the ICP said.

The ICP pointed out that for UAE residents, there is no need for them to check with the ICP within a specific period of time from the date their children have reached 15 years of age because the data update is done upon renewal of the residence.

In response to a resident’s inquiries about the documents required to issue a residence permit for a newborn, the ICP explained that customers who have newborns in the UAE are expected to fulfill a number of obligations and obtain a number of services from the ICP and other government institutions.

Based on this, a customer must have a birth certificate issued for the newborn by the Ministry of Health and Prevention and obtain a passport, either from the ICP (for citizens) or by the embassy of the resident’s home country (for residents), before applying to the ICP to obtain an ID card for the newborn.

The ICP indicated that after it is printed, the ID card is delivered to the Emirates Post, which in turn sends SMS to the customer that his ICD card is available and asks him to visit the post office he has already specified in the registration form to receive his card.

If the customer does not receive his card within 90 days, the Emirates Post will send the ID card back to the ICP, which in turn destroys the card, in which case the customer is required to apply for a replacement and pay the required fees for this service.