More than two million national identity card holders will soon be able to renew their cards at certified typing centres, cutting out the need to go to Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) registration centres, said a top official on Wednesday.

The advantage of the new renewal system is that card holders will not have to make an appointment or check the working hours of Eida centres, said Dr Ali Al Khoury, Acting General Manager of Eida.

He said the new renewal system was expected to be operational by next month, reported Gulf News.

At present card holders have to visit Eida registration centres for renewal with separate counters set aside for them.

Under the new registration system, by using an e-application form applicants can carry out the pre-registration process such as filling out the application form, scanning identification documents and paying fees at typing centres. The second phase involves making an appointment to visit an Eida centre to submit their signature, fingerprints and photographs.

"Since the ID card holders have already done the second phase, we don't want to bother them to repeat the same," Al Khoury said.

The typing centres will complete the renewal procedure by accepting the fee and transfer the data to Eida, which will send the new ID card by courier.

"But some of the ID holders may have to visit Eida centres, if their fingerprints stored on the Eida system are not clear," he said.

Al Khoury said Eida was preparing a list of such ID card holders, which will be available to typing centres. The typing centres can advise the card holders to visit Eida centres to complete the process, he said.