EMIR, the NIR camera and multiobject spectrograph of the GTC has just completed successfully its commissioning phase in telescope, after a very long development, construction and testing at the IAC. Very recently, the call for proposals for the Scientific Verification Phase of EMIR has been launched by GRANTECAN. Hence, it is now timely to describe the instrument as a whole, its expected performances and the main results of the commissioning periods, together with its planned run at the GTC. This seminar is aimed at covering all these aspects and will include also some prescriptions of the use of the observing tools to prepare EMIR proposals. Suggestions on the optimal use of the instrument in its present status as well as known problems discovered up to now will complete the content of this talk.