The federal law stipulating December 31 as the deadline for expatriates to register for ID cards is still valid, but there is no cause for residents to panic it seems. The large number of expatriates [who have not yet registered] but to fulfil their legal obligation, have to fill up the application for ID cards at any of the 700 typing centres across the country
Sounds simple but it seems up to 40,000 people a day are registering for ID cards at typing centres which say they do not have the resources to handle the rush. EIDA transferred the pre-registration process including filling out the application forms, scanning the identification documents and payment of fees to the typing centres three months ago as part of a new strategy to ease the registration process. An applicant goes to an EIDA registration centre only after completing the pre-registration process at a typing centre
The national identity card (ID) will become increasingly important for people to access essential government and commercial services as these become more widely available online.utiltiy companies are already trialling its use.
Non-registered expatriates is still estimated as “a few millions”. The best news is that a single application for an ID card, residence visa and labour card may be introduced in the future when the three documents would be integrated. No why didn’t I think of that?
