The concerned authorities in the Ministry of Interior are developing a comprehensive plan to end the use of civil ID cards for expatriates, and produce them solely for citizens, based on a study that delved into the matter, Al Rai reported.
Informed security sources revealed to Al-Rai daily that the General Department of Residency Affairs is looking into producing a special magnetic card for expats that will be embedded with all his or her details, which will also be useful in formal transactions with state agencies.
This will also allow the civil ID card that identifies expats to be replaced. The daily reported that the Residency Affairs Department of the Ministry of Interior is the main authority responsible for issuing residency visas for expatriate including entry visas.
Sources pointed out that many countries in the world issue their expats such cards called Resident Cards which include all data as part of the procedures to regulate their stay in country.
The sources pointed out that the introduction of the resident card will also help to reduce the congestion occurring in the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI), and lead to closure of its affiliated offices in citizen service centers. The number of civil id cards granted to expats since the start of the PACI is about 30 million, said the daily.
The project is also developed based on information gathered from onsite experiences, where many expats who depart the country permanently or have their residency revoked while stranded abroad, continue to use the civil id card illegally, and sometimes it is used by some criminal people.
According to sources, the residence card that will be issued by the residency affairs will be linked to the expat’s presence in the country, and when he or she finally departs, it will be cancelled immediately and will be invalid outside due to the special features different from those found in the Civil ID card.