U A E
No More U-Turn Flights?
DUBAI — February presidential decree that annuls an immigration rule requiring expatriates on visit visas to exit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a change of visa status has come as welcome respite to those waiting to get work papers here.
Most expatriates entering the UAE in search of employment on visit visas have to exit the country and return after obtaining their work permits. While some prefer to return to their own country, others travel shorter distances to neighbouring countries like Iran, Oman or Bahrain in order to save time and money.
"Now visitors can adjust their legal status locally and they are no more compelled to exit the UAE…in order to be eligible to enter on their fresh employment or residence visas," said Col Saeed Mattar bin Bleilah, director of the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department in a press statement announcing the Feb. 11 annulment..
The president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, said in his letter ordering the change that this was part of his commitment to ease visa transactions in the country. He also instructed authorities to put in place the necessary rules in that regard, while revenues collected from a stipulated fee should go to the government treasury.
According to immigration officials, the move aims to facilitate the procedures for changing the legal status of visitors who find jobs in the country regardless of their nationalities and profession.
The rule had in fact resulted in airlines offering visa-change flights — and doing roaring business. There are some flights that do not even land, but touch the runway of another country and return. The industry parlance for these ferry runs? "No-stop" or "U-turn flights".
One such popular destination is Kish Island in Iran — a duty-free zone some 200 kilometres from Dubai. The ill-fated aircraft that crashed in Sharjah earlier in February was a visa-change flight from Kish — was carrying passengers hugging their work visas, full of dreams and expectations of the new life that lay ahead of them.
"I am so glad this has been done," Raageshwari, an Indian working as a secretary in a media firm in Dubai, said of the change in rules. "I had to exit the country thrice as my employers took time to get my work permit ready. Those flights are terrible — it's like travelling in a bus."
"The package deal — a payment of around 300 dirhams (about 80 U.S. dollars) — that claims to include hotel accommodation and meals for one night is actually a bed in a dormitory and a meal that is most often bread, a boiled egg and a cup of tea," he added. "If your visa doesn't get faxed to you in a day, you have to shell out extra money."
The change of visa status from a visit visa to employment had been restricted to specific categories of professionals. Those in these categories are allowed to change the status of their visas if they obtain the approval of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs or other departments if they are to work in government bodies — and provided they pay the fees for exemption from exiting the country.
The Departments of Naturalisation and Residency across the UAE issued some 815,000 visas in 2003, of which 78 percent went to Asian nationals, according to a report issued by the Directorate of Planning at the Ministry of Interior. The visas ranged from renewals to fresh permits issued to workers in both public and private sectors and their dependents.
The U.A.E-Kish route is popular with immigrant workers who need to renew their residence papers and work permits. "Most expatriates prefer to fly to Kish for visa changes because tickets are cheap and visas are not required to enter the island. There are flights to other places like another tiny Iranian island called Qeshm, Doha and Bahrain. But flying to Kish is cheaper," said Sayed Ashraf, an official with a travel agency in Dubai.
"Such flights are normally used by Asian workers, who make up the bulk of UAE's expatriate work force. But the move to scrap the need for such visa-change flights should be more comprehensive. For example, it could also be made to cover those who wish to get a second successive visit visa," Sayed said.
"Without this, there will be a continued need for visa-change flights. The problem will remain if the move only covers people who want to change their visa from 'visit' status to 'employment' status. Visitors whose visas have expired will still need to exit the country if they intend to come back on a new visit visa," Sayed added.
While visa-change flights are a main source of income to many an airline, officials insist that the cancellation of the law will not affect their business as they operate flights to other destinations as well. "I don't that is totally right. On the day that I took my visa-change flight to Oman, there were six other such flights taking off to various destinations," said Ramon Fernandez, a Filipino salesman at a supermarket in Sharjah.
"Anyway what is more important, however, is that the annulment is a big relief for expatriates. Travelling on those flights can be very uncomfortable and many have to wait for more than two weeks to get their visas. It's an unnecessary waste of time and money. I was one of the lucky ones — once in Oman, I just entered the arrival lounge and exited through the departure one after stamping my visa," he added.
"It is sad that the cancellation of the law came a bit too late for the passengers who died in the crash, but it is a great relief for the entire expatriate community here and I'm sure everyone else thinks so too," Raageshwari concluded. (END/Copyright IPS)
