UAE Pass

Registered SIM may have lapsed for non-use (typical after long trip). Reactivate at Etisalat or du shop, or move to eSIM on the same number, then retry login.

Choose Restore, enter Emirates ID and UAE mobile, complete face-match. Same SIM must be active. If also changed SIM, kiosk visit needed to rebind.

Verified Plus requires a physical kiosk visit. Locate kiosks at any ICP, Smart Dubai, or TAMM centre - cannot be done remotely.

ICP sync to UAE Pass takes up to 24 hours after EID renewal. Wait, then refresh the wallet. If still missing after 48 hours, log out and log back in to force a fresh pull.

PDF must be under 10MB, text-readable (not scanned image PDF), no password protection. Convert scanned image to OCR-text PDF before retrying.

The one-time link expires after 24 hours. Generate a fresh share link and confirm the bank scans within the window. Many banks now accept the UAE Pass deep link directly which is more reliable.

No for full Verified status. UAE Pass requires an Emirates ID, which only residents and citizens hold. Tourists can sometimes create a Visitor tier account using their passport for very limited services (such as e-visa application), but the full single sign-on stack is residents only. Confirm on uaepass.ae if your specific use case fits Visitor tier.

Install the app on the new phone, choose Restore, enter your Emirates ID and UAE mobile, and complete the face-match again. The same SIM must be active in the new phone. If you also changed your SIM, you will need to visit a kiosk with both the new SIM and your physical Emirates ID to rebind. Plan ahead before travelling because you will need access to your registered UAE number to receive the verification SMS.

Yes for login, but the SMS OTP and biometric flow both work over an internet connection. The hard requirement is that your registered UAE SIM is still active and either roaming or replaced by an active eSIM on the same number. Many residents who travelled and let their UAE SIM lapse find themselves locked out and have to wait until they return to reactivate at a kiosk.

Yes. PDFs signed through the UAE Pass signature flow carry legal weight equivalent to a wet-ink signature under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 46 of 2021. This is the legal basis for the wholesale move of property addenda, NOCs, employment contract amendments and many bank forms onto the app. Some highly regulated transactions (DLD property transfer, certain court filings) still require Verified Plus, so confirm on the relevant portal.

Functionally no, because UAE Pass is now the standard login for all three. The underlying file at each authority still exists in your name, but you reach it through UAE Pass. Many residents have not opened a direct ICP or GDRFA account in years.

Open the wallet, select Emirates ID, choose Share. The app generates a one-time QR code or link. The recipient scans or opens it and sees a verified copy with a UAE Pass authenticity stamp. This is preferred by most UAE banks now because it removes the photocopy step and the verification problem.

After two failed attempts the app asks you to visit a kiosk. Bring your physical Emirates ID. The kiosk agent captures a fresh photo and pushes a verified status back to your account. Common reasons for repeated failure are very old Emirates ID photos, significant weight change, beard or hijab change, and poor lighting. Kiosk activation takes about 5 minutes.

Open the UAE Pass app, tap 'Sign Documents', upload the PDF (under 10MB, standard text-readable PDF), confirm the signature placement on each page, face-scan to authenticate, and the signed PDF downloads with an embedded UAE Pass cryptographic signature and QR-verifiable seal. Under Federal Decree-Law No. 46 of 2021 the signature is legally equivalent to wet-ink for most civil and commercial documents - tenancy contract addenda, NOCs, employment contract amendments, bank account opening, insurance policy acceptance, school enrolment forms. Highly regulated transactions (DLD property transfer, certain court filings, some MOHRE labour court submissions) require Verified Plus tier, which is a one-time kiosk upgrade. Verifiers check the signature by opening the QR code which returns the signing user's verified identity and the signing timestamp.

Visitor: mobile + email registered, no Emirates ID linked. Very limited; can access basic public information and start e-visa applications. Useful for tourists pre-arrival but residents should never stay at this tier. Verified: Emirates ID linked, face-scan completed (either through the app's biometric match against the ICP photo or via a kiosk for older photo cases). Unlocks the full 15,000+ service catalogue for daily use - ICP, GDRFA, MOHRE, TAMM, Dubai Now, RTA, DEWA, banking integrations. PDF signing works. Most residents stop here and never need more. Verified Plus: requires a physical kiosk visit at any ICP, Smart Dubai, or TAMM centre with the original Emirates ID. Adds DLD property transfers, certain high-value bank transactions, regulated legal services. The kiosk session takes about 5 minutes; the upgrade is permanent.

After two failed face-verification attempts the app blocks further self-service attempts and routes you to a kiosk. The most common causes are: very old Emirates ID photo (the ICP photo on file may be 5+ years old and no longer matches), significant facial changes (weight gain or loss, beard growth or shave, new glasses, hijab style change), poor lighting (face-match needs even lighting; backlight or harsh shadow fails), camera quality (older phone cameras with less than 5MP front sensor sometimes fail). The kiosk fallback at any ICP Customer Happiness Centre, Smart Dubai centre, or TAMM Abu Dhabi centre takes about 5 minutes - the agent captures a fresh photo, pushes it to both ICP and UAE Pass, and your Verified status activates. Bring the original Emirates ID. If you keep failing self-service even after a fresh ICP photo, request the kiosk path; do not lock the account by repeated retries.

Install UAE Pass on a new phone, choose Restore on the welcome screen, enter your Emirates ID number and your registered UAE mobile number, and complete the face verification again. The 6-digit PIN you set originally can be reset during this flow with a fresh OTP. The same SIM must be active in the new phone (or an eSIM on the same number) to receive the verification SMS. If you also changed your SIM along with the phone, you need to visit a kiosk with both the new SIM and your physical Emirates ID to rebind - this prevents account takeover by someone who has stolen the phone alone. If the old phone was stolen, there is no remote account-wipe function; the new install on a fresh device immediately invalidates the old session because the SIM binding moves with the SIM, not with the device. Plan a kiosk visit if travelling soon and you need to ensure UAE Pass works abroad.

Limited yes, full no. The Visitor tier is available for non-residents - registration with mobile and email only, no Emirates ID required - and can be used for basic services like starting an e-visa application, pre-arrival visitor visa renewal, and certain Smart Dubai information services. This is useful for tourists planning a UAE trip who want to file paperwork in advance. However the Visitor tier cannot access the 15,000+ service catalogue that residents use - no GDRFA visa renewal, no MOHRE work permit check, no DEWA bill, no Salik account, no document signing with legal weight. Tourists who later become residents simply upgrade to Verified by linking their newly issued Emirates ID and completing face verification. There is no path from Visitor to Verified without an Emirates ID. GCC nationals on UAE entry without Emirates ID are also limited to Visitor unless they apply for a UAE residence.

The registered SIM is the security backbone of UAE Pass - all OTPs and most authentication flows depend on it. If the old SIM is lost or no longer in use, the change requires a kiosk visit because remote self-service would create an account-takeover vulnerability. At any ICP Customer Happiness Centre, Smart Dubai centre, or TAMM Abu Dhabi centre, bring: original Emirates ID, the new SIM (Etisalat or du, registered in your own name - SIMs in a company's or relative's name will fail the bind), and your UAE Pass account credentials (current PIN if you have it; if not, password reset works alongside). The agent verifies identity, captures fresh biometrics if needed, updates the registered mobile, and pushes the change to all linked services. The whole session takes about 5-10 minutes. Plan this update before any travel - many residents discover the issue only when abroad and locked out.

UAE Pass outages are rare but disruptive because it is the single sign-on layer for most federal services. The legacy password-based logins still work for some accounts (those that pre-date UAE Pass enforcement) at ICP smart services, GDRFA, MOHRE, and TAMM - try the old username/password if available. For urgent transactions during an outage: the relevant hotlines (600 522 222 ICP, 800 5111 GDRFA, 600 590 000 MOHRE) can complete some queries and payments over the phone with passport-based identity verification. Pre-departure fines clearance can be done at an ICP or GDRFA Customer Happiness Centre with physical Emirates ID. The Dubai Now and TAMM super-apps occasionally remain functional during UAE Pass outages because they cache user sessions; try the super-app even if the dedicated authority app fails. For Verified Plus transactions (DLD property transfer, high-value bank), there is no workaround - the kiosk-bound authentication is required.