08 Oct

UAE: No extension of visa amnesty after October 31; stricter measures, deportations to follow

There will be no extension of the UAE visa amnesty programme that ends on October 31, the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) announced on Monday.

The ICP added there will be deportations and tightening of measures with the inclusion of violators on the no-entry list.

Three weeks remain until the end of the amnesty program on November 1. Intensive inspection campaigns will be conducted in residential areas and companies where violators are located.

These campaigns will continue to apprehend violators and enforce decisions against them, whether through fines or deportation, placing them on the list of individuals banned from entering the country in the future.

Maj-Gen Sultan Al Nuaimi, ICP director-general, said: "This (two-month visa amnesty programme which started on September 1) is the golden and final opportunity for individuals to adjust their situations." He added: “There will be no leniency, and there will be no court proceedings."

According to Al Nuaimi, “An overwhelming number of cases have been received, and many have had their situations adjusted during this period.”

Authorities are monitoring the violators' locations and will impose fines and deport them from the country with no possibility of entering the UAE unless fines are settled.

They urged those who have received exit permits to leave before the deadline, as some have not yet departed.

The total number of people who have adjusted their status within the amnesty programme will be announced after completion. Many individuals with special circumstances were assisted by airlines, either through ticket discounts or even free tickets.

In September, Dubai's General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs said that it regularised the status of nearly 20,000 individuals, while 7,401 exit permits were issued to violators wishing to return to their home countries during the amnesty programme.

Source: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/life-and-living/visa-and-immigration-in-uae/uae-no-extension-of-visa-amnesty-after-october-31-stricter-measures-deportations-to-follow