DUBAI – The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has simplified the process for getting immigration-related documents in a major relief for immigrants.
According to the fresh rules, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) has streamlined the process for the issuance of passports for Emiratis, as well as Emirates ID and residency permits for expatriates.
As far as the simplification is concerned, previously, these services required four steps, but now it is only a single-step process to make it more convenient for customers.
The move comes as the emirate is going forward with its Zero Government Bureaucracy programme aimed at making public service delivery more efficient and simple.
As part of the simplification, several fields have been eliminated from the service requests. For instance, for passport services, four out of ten fields have been removed, while for the ID card and residence permit services, six fields have been eliminated.
According to the changes, the customer’s last registered address is now displayed, and all remaining fields are automatically filled out based on the principle of requesting data once, Khaleej Times reported.
Besides, attachments previously required for these services have also been reduced. This means that the personal photo attachment is no longer necessary for passport services, and for ID card and residence permit services, all three main attachments, including the passport attachment, the summary of registration for citizens, and the personal photo, have been eliminated.
It has to be clarified that the customers can still change the data and photos that are retrieved from the system. Furthermore, the need for a passport loss circular document has been replaced by an electronic circular, and the health insurance document for residents is retrieved through institutional linkage.
The changes are so comprehensive in nature that ICP has introduced smart payment channels such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, which have simplified the payment process and reduced the time needed for processing the application.
It is to be clarified that the United Arab Emirates is home to millions of foreign workers and simplifying the process would benefit them to save time and avoid the hassle of excessive paperwork.
