No more 6-month visa for jobseekers, officials clarify
dubai — The six-month jobseeker visa scheme, which was rolled out for the beneficiaries of the UAE amnesty programme, ended on December 31, officials have clarified.
Both Amer and General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) centres have recently been flooded with enquiries and calls about the six-month temporary visa scheme for unemployed residents.
Officials have clarified that the scheme ended together with the amnesty programme on December 31. There has been no official announcement yet about the new temporary visa for unemployed residents.
The amnesty programme, which was extended twice before finally ending on December 31, allowed violators to modify their residency status by getting a new sponsored visa or applying for a six-month temporary employment visa.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, an official at a branch of Amer centre in Dubai said the six-month visa was available only to those who qualified for the amnesty.
“Only those who committed visa violations before August 1 were granted that option. The visa scheme neither includes visa violators after the mentioned date nor unemployed residents seeking a new job.”
Another Amer centre official also noted that the scheme is no longer implemented after the amnesty. “It was applicable only during the amnesty period for residency violators.”
However, a new six-month visa, announced in June 2018 by the UAE Cabinet as part of a legislative package of visa policies, will soon be extended to jobseekers who overstayed their visa but wished to work in the country.
The new visa scheme that will allow unemployed residents to stay in the country to look for a job, however, has not yet been implemented by the authorities. — KT File
Only those who committed visa violations before August 1 were granted the option. The visa scheme doesn’t include unemployed residents seeking a new job.”
Amer centre official
It was applicable only during the amnesty period for residency violators.”
Amer centre official