Can my new employee fly in to the UAE after July 7?

Visitors arriving in the country will need to undergo PCR tests at the airport or show a test result with 96-hour validity

Senior News Editor

If you have a job offer in Dubai, will you be able to fly in after visitors are allowed to enter the UAE? This was the question raised by a Gulf News reader.

He asked, “I have a new employee coming to Dubai on an employment visa after July 7. Does he need to register with Dubai’s General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) and get a pre-approval before flying to Dubai? Is the RT-PCR (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test — valid for 96 hours — a requirement, as well? When I spoke to the Emirates airlines representative, she mentioned that there is no need for a negative test result as all passengers will be scanned at Dubai Airport. Is this only for travellers who come through Emirates airlines or for all travellers?”

What is the process for getting a UAE employment visa?

According to the processes followed by the UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and Dubai’s Amer Centres, anyone applying for a new employment

visa would first need to get a work permit issued by ministry before an e-visa is issued for the individual by GDRFA.

Work permits suspended

The ministry said it has suspended the issuance of work permits for employees outside the country until further notice.

Amer Centre, which manage all visa related processes in Dubai, said if the company gets work permit approval from the ministry, they can then submit the request online for a work visa with Amer.

“However, all applications are subject to approval,” the centre said.

Depending on the visa you are travelling on, you would have the option of getting a PCR test done 96 hours prior to flying.

This is because, according to the guidelines issued by Dubai Media Office on June 21, on arrival in Dubai, residents are required to take a PCR test, while visitors and tourists have the option of presenting a PCR test result valid for 96 hours.