As everyone prepares for the newly announced two-month visa amnesty to commence from September 1, typing centers have been receiving a lot of calls and inquiries from expatriate workers who want to legalize their overstay.
For the duration of the grace period, the immigrant is allowed a chance to have their fines exempted so as to either travel back home or remain in the country.
‘Many of them are just residency visa overstayers and they have many questions, questions about how to process documents, questions about how to apply for their legalization,’ Faraz Khan, the operation manager of Arabian Business Centre, said.
Khan agreed that while they solved all of these questions they can not speak much about the procedure also they are waiting for details from the immigration authority.
“Within the next couple of days from today, we shall be receiving more information from the authorities as well as having an update on our online portal,” he said.
Procedures and requirements
Dawood Alauddin of Seven City Document Clearing Services also disclosed his agency’s interaction and said they received several calls daily.
“These overstayers really want to regularize their status,” he said.
Speaking about some of the features of the amnesty process, Alauddin said that an overstayer could give them his papers and they would pass them to an Amer center.
The concerned authorities give an out pass, and the illegal resident will be able to leave the country within two weeks of the approval of the application.
“The overstayer will have to secure an offer letter with a company either and apply for a visa to remain in the country or depart the country”, said Mr. Dawood.
Clarifications anticipated
But most of them typing centres have not received full instructions from the authorities yet.
Nazeer Mohammed of Al Burj Document Clearing Services added: “When people learnt about the UAE amnesty programme they came with many details, but all we have received so far are the periods of application and for how long it will be on.”
Presently, Mohammed said while waiting for clarity, they were concentrating on increasing awareness of how crucial the amnesty scheme is.
With the grace period set to begin on September 1, typing centres are preparing for a larger inflow of queries.
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“We encourage everyone who is staying illegally in the country to make the most of this prospect and legalize their residency status. Do not worry about how time-laborious it is. Once you are out of it, you have freedom,” said Khan.