Re-register UAE SIMs with every new visa

Mobile phone users in the UAE will have to re-register their SIM cards every time they change their employment or residency visa status, local website arabianbusiness.com reported on Thursday.

According to the website, telecom operator du has confirmed that users have to re-register their SIM when they change their visa status.

Some residents across the UAE have until Thursday to re-register their SIM cards as part of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority's (TRA) ‘My Number, My Identity’ campaign to stamp out mobile phone fraud and tighten security.

The TRA was forced to extend the deadline in October 2012 after du and Etisalat “were unable to provide smooth mechanisms to facilitate, accelerate and stimulate subscribers to update their data,” the website reported.

To register the personal information, Etisalat and du subscribers should visit any of their outlets, offices or service centres across the Emirates and submit original copies of their personal documents for authentication.

Etisalat has 105 registration points across the UAE, while du has 46.