Departing expats will not lose national ID

Expatriates returning home will not lose their UAE national ID number which will be retained in the system for them in case they come back in the future, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

The Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) said ID numbers held by expatriates residing in the UAE would remain theirs even after they depart for their home countries.

“The ID and the number belonging to any expatriate will not be cancelled or given to any other persons after that expatriate leaves the UAE as they could return to the country in the future,” EIDA director general Ali Khouri told Albayan newspaper.

“The ID number issued for an expatriate will be stored in the demographic system and will not be given to any other person because all personal data for that expatriate are linked to that number, which will remain the ownership of this expatriate.

He said a foreigner who had worked in the UAE and return after a few years on a new job contract will be issued the same ID number. “There will be no duplicity in national Ids,” he said.