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Living In UAE Reader Queries

Five reasons why you should download the UAE Pass app

Tired of remembering passwords for government websites? Create a UAE Pass account.



The UAE Pass is the national digital identity for citizens, residents and visitors in the UAE. Picture used for illustrative purposes.
Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: Through one account, you can digitally access over 10,000 local and federal government services, no need to remember multiple usernames and passwords.

The UAE Pass is the national digital identity for citizens, residents and visitors in the UAE and enables users to access many online services and sign and authenticate documents. The app was launched in 2018 as a joint initiative between the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), Abu Dhabi Digital Authority, and Digital Dubai.

Having a UAE Pass not only prevents you from having multiple online accounts, and helps you save time by skipping the registration process on government websites.

First, create a UAE Pass account

Before you get to enjoy any benefits of the UAE Pass app, you first need to create an account.

If you are a UAE citizen or resident, you must have a valid Emirates ID and an active UAE mobile number to register on the app.

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You simply need to register using your Emirates ID number and verify your identity using facial recognition and set a security pin code.

For a step-by-step guide on how to create an account, click here .

Once you create an account you get to use five of these features of the app:

1. Sign in to any government website or service through a single account

By downloading the UAE Pass app and creating an account, you will no longer need to create multiple usernames and passwords. The app will be your single digital identity, allowing you access thousands of federal and local government services.

2. Sign all your government documents digitally

On the UAE Pass app, you can sign an electronic document with a digital signature.

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This eliminates the need to visit a service centre or government department to sign a physical document.

To use the digital signature feature, open the app and tap on ‘Sign Document’. Upload a document saved on your phone and sign using your phone’s touchscreen capability.

You will also have the option to download the document as a pdf, with your signature on it.

3. Store and share all your official documents in a ‘digital vault’.

From your Emirates ID and residence visa copy, to your COVID-19 vaccination card, tenancy contract, car registration and driving licence, you no longer need to save separate image files on your phone, and scramble to search for them when you need them.

The UAE Pass’ ‘digital vault’ stores all your digital documents in one place and even makes it easy to share them with government departments, digitally. This is because government departments are increasingly using blockchain technology, which ensures that a digital document is safe from manipulation and can be submitted by the applicant digitally.

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To store a digital document on your phone, tap on ‘Add documents’ on the app’s homepage. Then, select the government department which issues the document.

For example, if you want a digital version of your driving licence, select the Ministry of Interior (MOI), or for Emirates ID, select the Federal Authority of Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP).

Once that’s done, the digital document will be saved in the ‘digital vault’, which you can find under the ‘Documents’ section.

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4. Check the authenticity of government documents with ‘UAE Verify’

If you have received a digital version of a government document, like an entry permit or health related document, ‘UAE Verify' can help you verify its authenticity. UAE Verify is a digital platform that enables instant verification of ‘Digital Trusted Documents’, and this service can be found within the UAE Pass app. The service verifies the authenticity, integrity and validity of the document from the official source, which would be the government department that has issued the document.

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To use the service, you simply need to open the app, and on the home page, tap on ‘Verify documents’. The app will then ask you to upload the document you wish to verify. Once you have uploaded the document, it will verify its authenticity and even generate a digital trusted document version, which can be submitted digitally to other government departments. A ‘trusted digital document’ contains a ‘hash’, which is a unique digital code that verifies that the document's contents have not been altered.

For a complete guide on how to verify and validate a digital document with ‘UAE Verify’, click here to read our in-depth guide.

5. Don’t have an Emirates ID? Tourists can still use the UAE Pass and access government services

While individuals need an Emirates ID to register themselves on the UAE Pass app, visitors can now also use the app by authenticating their information through other identity documents. This can either be their passport or if they are a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizen or resident, they can use their National ID, which can be used to create an account.

Do you have any questions related to the topics covered in Living in UAE? Write to us at readers@gulfnews.com

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