UAE Extends Visa Amnesty by One Month

The UAE has extended its visa amnesty scheme by another month to help thousands of workers leave the country without being penalized, local media reported.

The “generous” move will help to settle expats their visa status, media outlets reported.

According to the Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Al Dallal, spokesperson at the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs of the Ministry of Interior, the extension of the visa scheme took place due to the orders of His Highness UAE President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and it will end on Dec. 31, Gulf News reported.

Brig Gen Saeed Rakan Al Rashidi, director general of the Department of Naturalization and Residency said, “This will be a good opportunity for those who did not get a chance to visit the amnesty centers. They now have another chance to benefit from this generous offering,” The National reported.

This is the second time the visa amnesty scheme has been extended. Initially, it opened on Aug. 1 and was supposed to end on Oct. 31.

The program was launched to enable foreign workers overstaying their permits to leave the country without paying any fine or undergoing jail term. It also allowed workers to look for a new job within the amnesty period.

Later, the amnesty scheme was extended for another month to November, the National noted. Moreover, the publication added that thousands of Indian residents in the United Arab Emirates have applied for short validity passport.

At the same time, the United Arab Emirates government has said that the six-month temporary visa, given to the jobseekers under visa amnesty scheme, will lose its validity if the visa holder leaves the country even once. A senior official in the Federal Authority for Identity and Nationality (FAIC) has made it clear that this short-term visa for the jobseekers doesn’t provide multiple entry facility.

The FAIC has issued the clarification because a local newspaper had said in a report that temporary visa holders can exit and come back to the UAE during the validity period. The authorities have quashed the report and made it clear that this visa is not at all a multiple entry visa, reported Khaleej Times.