The Emirates ID is an identity card of the UAE’s citizens and residents. issued by Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (FAIC) is a legal requirement for all UAE citizens and residents, including newborn babies. It protects the individual’s identity and facilitates identification and verification as per international standards.

UAE citizens and residents are obliged to apply for one and carry it with them at all times.

The Emirates ID card consists of the following components which provide the highest levels of accuracy and security. The components are:

• Smart card
• Public key infrastructure (Digital signature & authentication certificates)
• Fingerprint biometric

Identification number

The identity card is featured for its identification number known as the identity number which sticks with its holder forever. By this number, he may benefit from all the governmental and some of the non-governmental and private entities services, which require the identity card as an evidence of who is accessing the service. The identity number is featured for its sole and un-repeated number. It includes 15 digits.

Electronic chip

It contains personal data of the holder. This data can be read by a machines built for this purpose and authenticate the user’s credentials. Some of these data are encrypted and only readable/ writable/ updatable by the authorized authorities in order to protect the privacy of data. This chip may store up to 32,000 letters of information.

Other technologies

The identity card has state of the art technology in the field of smart cards, including the accurate letters, ultra violet ink and line drawing. It has nine security features which makes falsification of the card very difficult for such features excels the current used standards in many cards such as the banking credit cards.