ID, resident cards in Oman don't need home address – yet

Residents without an official home address can still renew ID and resident cards by giving their company details, the Royal Oman Police has confirmed.

The force clarified the process after an announcement on Sunday that a home address would be required to renew or apply for the cards in Oman. A police spokesman said: “Expats entering the country who are not yet sure of their permanent address may provide the closest address that they can be reached on, like their sponsor’s address or company address. For those who do not have a personal P.O. Box for their address, that information won’t be necessary. “

He said the force would prefer a home address, adding: “Updating your information and providing more details would benefit all aspects of government procedure and work. There is no doubt that this step would be an advantage for the population, and government agencies. “With regards to efficiency in areas of service, providing this information would make transactions easier, as information is already in the system for easy access.

“This direction also serves aspects of security, with regards to reaching individuals or also with regards to travelling out of country, and making sure a person’s details are verified and accurate.”

A single unified address system may be just around the corner for Oman, but tens of thousands of residents currently live in homes that do not have a designated fixed address.

Newly arrived expat workers, who account for almost half the population, are also of No Fixed Abode until they can find accommodation. They can’t however, sign a rental deal without a resident card.

Officers at the Royal Oman Police processing centre in Seeb were happy to take an employer or sponsor’s address to link it to the resident card, and the spokesman for the force has confirmed that is still the case – for the time being.

A tender document was released yesterday by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) for a Unified Addressing System Database in an effort to co-ordinate Oman’s homes under a single addressing system.

At least until that is up and running, residents and newcomers will be able to use a company address or a post box, a police spokesman said.

The notification issued by the ROP on Sunday stated: “For the purpose of completing your civil register data, when issuing or renewing your ID or residence card, you need to register your present and permanent address specifying the street name, way no, lane no, block no, building, house no, PO box, postal code , residential phone, mobile no.”

Abdulmalik Al Balushi, Chief Executive Officer, Oman Post said, “I think post boxes should be made mandatory.

“I think ROP are trying to update their data, to know who lives where, and I think it’s very important. In my view making post boxes an optional field and to suggest that people can use their sponsor’s postal address will not serve the purpose.

“In some countries they have made it mandatory to have one box per individual, and by law actually there is a penalty. However it’s a common practice here (to share) but as we go along it will have to stop somehow.

We are not going to do it today because we know the limitations, but as we put solutions on the ground we will try to limit this practice.”

He stressed that both government and private organisations need to ensure that they have the right post box numbers in their systems. “I think government organisations and private sector must make sure that post boxes in their applications and systems are correct, because we are facing trouble with our data and databases in all the government companies because some people take it lightly and put anyone’s post box numbers.”

Al Balushi added that although Oman Post can give more post boxes out to people as required, another solution is the electronic post (epost) service, which has been rolled out in Muscat and Dhofar, and in the next two months will be implemented in the rest of the country.

The NCSI wants to create the unified address system as it “plays a vital role in most transactions, provided by thousands of different organisations—from registering to vote, collection of waste, delivery of social care, delivery of packages, and most crucially responding to emergency situations where time really can be a matter of life or death."

Last year, in a first-of-its-kind pilot project, Oman Post launched a pilot scheme at Al Mouj Muscat, with residents of the waterfront apartment blocks being the first ones to receive their post to their doors.

Younis Khan, manager at a logistics firm, said: “We always use our company post box for everything, even if it is personal, because I do not have a personal post box and I can’t even imagine having one here because it is such a common practice to use the company post box. This news and ROP announcing that residents give their personal address for ID cards, I think is a good idea. I hope this works well.”

According to Satish Kumar, a student, online shopping would be much easier than it is now. “I am tired of waiting for so long and giving different addresses to ship books and games to Oman. I hope this will make it easier for me, but the only trouble is that I do not have a personal post box as yet."

Source: Timesofoman