The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, FAIC, has delivered some 3,648,563 identity cards to their owners during the current year, according to information published on its website.

The total number of cards produced during the period is 3,788,794, while the number of identity cards created by the authority since 2011 has reached 31,422,995.

The authority gives its users a 90-day notice period, from the date of receiving an SMS notification from Emirates Post, to collect their Emirates ID Cards, to avoid their destruction, which will subsequently require them to reapply.

Among many agencies, the Health Authority - Abu Dhabi, HAAD, has announced the integration of the local health insurance card with the identity card. HAAD also launched the "Self-Registration in the Happiness Programme," which allows individuals to register in the programme using their identity card automatically.

The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai also uses the Emirates ID Cards at Dubai International Airport smart gates, with the aim of speeding travel procedures for passengers. Telecom companies also rely on the identity cards for many of their services, along with the majority of banks in the country.

FAIC has included 12 fields for recording the health information of cardholders, including their blood type, chronic diseases, communicable diseases and allergies, in a smart identity card that has a 144 Kb storage capacity.