ICP Customer Happiness Centre - Ras Al Khaimah (Al Dhait)

Walk-ins are accepted and a digital queue runs throughout the day. The ICP Smart Services app allows you to reserve a time slot, which typically halves the wait, particularly during the Sunday and Monday late-morning peak. The Friday evening session 14:30-18:30 is walk-in only and is one of the quietest windows of the working week, well-suited to families and individuals who cannot attend on weekday mornings.

Yes, end-to-end. The counter accepts the renewal e-form, verifies documents, captures biometrics where required (every five years for adults), processes payment through the ICP gateway and updates the residence file in the federal system. The new Emirates ID is couriered to the address on file, or printed within 24 hours under Fawri urgent service for an additional AED 150. The medical-fitness test is required for the primary visa-holder and is performed at the RAK Preventive Medicine Centre prior to attending ICP.

Yes. Bring the original birth certificate (attested if issued outside the UAE), both parents' passports and Emirates IDs, the marriage certificate (attested for foreign marriages) and the sponsor's salary certificate. The centre completes entry permit, residence visa stamping and Emirates ID issuance in a single bundled transaction. The 120-day window runs from date of birth for UAE-born babies and from first entry to the UAE for foreign-born children; missing it triggers AED 100 per day in fines.

Yes. The centre runs a dedicated PRO queue and the Sunday and Monday morning shifts are busy with weekend batch submissions from RAK mainland and RAKEZ free-zone companies. Bring an authorisation letter on the sponsor's letterhead, the establishment immigration card, the trade licence and a printed list of files with reference numbers. Each worker must attend in person for biometric capture; remote capture is not permitted.

RAKEZ - the Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone - provides its own one-stop-shop for trade licence, establishment cards and employee onboarding within the free zone's compound at Al Hamra. However, federal Emirates ID biometric capture and federal residence visa endorsement are ICP functions and are processed at Al Dhait, not inside RAKEZ. The two systems are linked in the back office, so when RAKEZ approves a new employment entry permit, the ICP file is auto-created and the worker attends Al Dhait for biometrics.

Travel-ban status is now available instantly through the ICP Smart Services app and icp.gov.ae using your Emirates ID number. If the system reports a flag, the Al Dhait counter can identify the issuing authority - federal courts, police, debt-recovery cases - and direct you to the right resolution. ICP itself does not lift bans imposed by other bodies; you must clear the underlying matter and then return for verification.

Yes. After biometric capture and document verification, you can pay the AED 150 Fawri surcharge on top of the standard Emirates ID issuance fee and the card is printed within 24 hours. Collection is from the customer service desk at Al Dhait on the next working day. Fawri is the standard option for residents needing verified ID before international travel.

Payment is digital through the ICP payment gateway, with debit and credit cards accepted at the counter. Cash is accepted only for small fees. You can pre-pay all government fees through the ICP Smart Services app, which compresses the in-person step to document verification and biometrics. FTA-compliant VAT invoices are auto-emailed to the address registered against the file.

Your file follows the sponsor's licensing emirate, not your residential address. Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, UAQ and Fujairah-sponsored files are with ICP and can be processed at the ICP centre in the respective emirate. Dubai-sponsored files belong to GDRFA Dubai and must be processed through Amer typing centres in Dubai. The Al Dhait counter politely redirects if your file does not belong to ICP RAK. RAK free-zone employees - RAKEZ, RAK Maritime City - are correctly served here.

Walk-in is the default and works well outside the Sunday-Monday 09:00-12:00 peak, with transactions taking 25-45 minutes end-to-end including biometrics. Fawri urgent is an add-on rather than a separate queue: you go through the standard biometric and verification flow but pay an AED 150 surcharge so the printed Emirates ID is ready within 24 hours instead of the 5-10 working-day courier cycle. For international travel from RAK or Dubai airports or for completing transactions that require the new card, Fawri is the standard choice. Fawri is not available for first-issue newborn cards or files held under security review.

The boundary is set by the sponsor's licensing emirate, not residential address. RAK-licensed sponsors (mainland RAK DED, RAKEZ free zone, RAK Maritime City) sit with federal ICP and Al Dhait is the right destination. Dubai-licensed sponsors (DET, DMCC, JAFZA, DAFZA, IFZA) sit with GDRFA Dubai and must be processed through Amer typing centres such as Amer Al Barsha or Amer Al Twar. Al Dhait cannot serve a Dubai file even for residents living in RAK, and Amer cannot serve a RAK file - the federal-local boundary is rigid. The establishment immigration card states the licensing emirate; confirm before the ninety-minute drive to Dubai.

Original passport with at least six months' validity; the existing Emirates ID (even if expired); the sponsor's Emirates ID and trade licence; the establishment immigration card for employment files; a current medical-fitness certificate from the RAK Preventive Medicine Centre; the tenancy contract or RAK municipality rental record for family cases; an active UAE PASS account on your phone for digital signature; an attested marriage certificate (spouse files); attested birth certificate (children); and a salary certificate where the family-sponsorship threshold applies. RAKEZ employees bring the free-zone establishment card. All documents must be originals; photocopies are routinely rejected for first-issue files.

The biometric booths run 07:00 to 17:00 Sunday to Thursday on a single shift and a split shift 07:30-12:00 plus 14:30-18:30 on Friday. The shortest queues are weekday mornings 07:00-09:00, weekday afternoons after 14:00 and the entire Friday evening session 14:30-18:30. The longest queues are Sunday and Monday 09:00-12:00 during batch hours. The Dhuhr prayer rotation around 12:30 pauses throughput for 15-20 minutes. The single-shift weekday schedule means anyone arriving after 16:00 should be prepared for a tight close. Children under 15 are exempt from fingerprinting but require a facial-image capture. During Ramadan the schedule compresses to a single 09:00-15:00 shift.