On Friday, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) – Dubai convened a meeting to outline the strategies and protocols for the upcoming two-month UAE visa amnesty program, set to commence on September 1. The meeting saw the establishment of specialized task forces, comprising the Customer Happiness and Digital Services, Proactive Media Communication, and the Services Development Team, with the aim to facilitate a seamless and efficient process for all participants, according to GDRFA.
The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) recently declared that residence visa violators will be afforded a two-month window to have their fines annulled. ICP has pledged to take all requisite actions to enforce this initiative, which includes the waiver of fines and legal repercussions, enabling violators to either regularize their status or depart the country without hindrance. Detailed procedures pertaining to the amnesty will be disclosed shortly, ICP noted.
This marks the fourth such amnesty program initiated by the UAE government since 2007, with the most recent iteration occurring six years prior. That program, which began on August 1, 2018, was initially slated to conclude on October 31, 2018, but was extended by the federal government for an additional two months, until December 31, 2018, to accommodate more residency violators in rectifying their status or exiting the country penalty-free.
Historical amnesty programs have seen significant participation: in 2007, approximately 342,000 residents availed themselves of the two-month amnesty, and during 2012/2013, over 60,000 migrants utilized the nationwide service. In 2018, GDRFA reported that 105,809 residence visa violators in Dubai applied for amnesty. Of these, 30,387 obtained out-passes post-fine waiver, 6,288 secured new residency visas, and 18,530 renewed their visas. Additionally, 35,549 job seeker permits were granted, 13,843 individuals transitioned from illegal to legal residency, and 1,212 individuals from war-torn countries received one-year visas. The five-month visa amnesty scheme that concluded on December 31, 2018, saw the cancellation of millions of dirhams in fines.
Preceding the 2018 amnesty, Dubai Police had apprehended 10,310 residency violators in the first half of 2018, with 40,056 individuals caught illegally residing in 2017 and 55,447 residency law violators detained in 2016.
