Visit visa ‘traders’ warned

Travel agencies and tourism companies in the capital will face fines and closure if they are found selling tourist or visit visas for a fee to visitors who arrive in the country in search of jobs, said Brigadier Nassir El Awadi El Menhali, Director of Abu Dhabi Naturalisation and Residency Department (ADNRD).

“To let any visitor enter the country to work or live illegally is a violation and crime. Hence, companies which bring visitors and allow them to search for jobs would face stiff penalties, including cancellation of their licences,” said Brig El Menhali.

As for the individuals, the department arrested in January an employee of Al Ain Naturalisation and Residency Department and two other men who were trading in visas.

The ADNRD is yet to fine the erring agencies, Brig El Menhali said, adding that in case of violations, the department shall not refund guarantee money furnished by the company.

“In addition to the normal visa fee, the department usually collects bank guarantees from tourism agencies for group visas. But if the visitors (tourists) abscond, the tourism agencies will not get refund of their guarantees,” Brig El Menhali added. He pointed out that the department would soon fix the guarantee amount.

In the case of individuals, a new guarantee amount ranging between Dh2,000 and Dh5,000 would be charged for issuance of a visit visa for their family members — parents, brothers and sisters.

He stressed that the problem of illegals had surfaced as a result of the leniency shown to the sponsors, firms and tourism agencies.

For more control and monitoring, Brig El Menhali said: “We are working on improving the system to facilitate the services rendered to the public, and to foil unfair practices by the some agencies and individuals.

“The ADNRD is looking forward to allowing the applicants to receive their visas online,” he added.

/Khaleej Times/

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All certificates to be authenticated via mail

All diplomas and certificates produced by job applicants in the UAE will have to be from now on authenticated via mail by the UAE Foreign Ministry or any other competent authority it names, according to a ministerial resolution issued on Sunday by Minister of Labour Saqr Ghobash.

All job applications sent to the Ministry of Labour will be rejected and blocked if and when the attached documents of qualifications ( issued by an educational institution testifying that the recipient has earned a degree or has successfully completed a particular course of study or certifying that a person may officially practice in certain professions) fail the verification process, said Resolution No 240 of 2008.

Relevant penalties and legal action against violators will remain effective, it said.

Accordingly, sponsors and employers shall pay all the costs of possible pursuant deportation of non-compliant applicants.

The said resolution provides for the setting up of a permanent legal and finical commission that will be tasked with revising all financial issues related to the implementation of Resolution No. 851 of 2005. WAM

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A Food Law for Abu Dhabi, which lays the foundations to take better care of consumer health by enhancing food safety and quality standards, was launched on Thursday.

The law, expected to come into effect three months after it is published in the Official Gazette, stipulates stringent measures to ensure food safety and quality.

From the producers, to storage and transportation to the retailers and caterers, the law covers all stakeholders of the food chain and defines their rights and responsibilities. It lays out penalties for violators and imparts power to the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) to implement these.

The law, in line with the government's strategy to achieve excellence in all fields, was launched in a ceremony at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce. Various stakeholders from the public and private sector where present at the launch. Source

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New emergency digit number to inform officials on illegals

The Department of Following-up Illegals in the Federal Naturalisation and Residency Department (FNRD) will be soon setting up a new three-digit hot-line number to seek information from the public about the presence of illegals in the country.

Giving this information, Major Hilal Aida Al Mazrouei, Director of Department of Following-up Illegals, told Khaleej Times yesterday that the move is aimed at flushing out illegals staying in the country by receiving tip-offs from the public.

The number will be announced soon, he added.

"By setting up the three-digit hotline, we plan to enhance cooperation with the society wherein people could tip off officials about illegal workers or people who had 'absconded' from their sponsors," said Major Al Mazrouei.

He said the FNRD is now working to intensify inspections of companies, farms, buildings and labour accommodations in order to weed out illegals.

"Two teams of officers will be working in tandem. One will generate information and carry out investigations and the second will move to arrest the illegals," he said.

Regarding entering houses and farms, he said that the officers are not allowed to visit homes without the permission of the General Prosecution.

He, however, affirmed that companies can be inspected with the co-operation of the authorities concerned such as the Ministry of Labour and the Municipalities.

Many national and expatriate sponsors are wondering who will be held accountable in the case of detection of illegal workers or infiltrators.

"All sides are responsible and would be accountable under the law as we have recently arrested more than 40 housemaids who were illegally working and living in the same building. The building owner will appear before the General Prosecution Department for questioning," said Major Al Mazrouei.

"Furthermore, if no absconding report has been filed, the maids agency and the sponsor will be held accountable under the law and would face a fine of Dh50,000 in the case of hiring or sheltering an illegal and Dh100,000 for hiring or sheltering an infiltrator," he added.

As for illegals and infiltrators themselves, they will face a month in jail, subjected to eye-scan and deported with a ban on entry into the UAE. Source

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If you are illegal for less than three months, you can legalise your status

If you are an illegal resident in the UAE or your driver or maid has an expired visa for less than three months you can go to the Naturalisation and Residency Department (NRD) and legalise the status without being penalised, according to Major Hilal Aida Al Mazrouei, Director of the Department of Illegals.

He told Khaleej Times that the work on following-up on illegal workers in the country will take a different shape as we seek the cooperation of all the sponsors in the society — nationals, expatriates and the illegals themselves - to weed out this problem.

The move will enable sponsors to legalise the status of their housemaids and domestic servants' if their visas have expired. They can do this by going to the courts, which will waive the fines and legalise their status by renewing the visa or transferring the sponsorship.

In the past, one month was given as grace period to the sponsors to renew the visas of their workers, maids, domestic servants, relatives and dependants. However, the new decision now allows them up to three months.

Meanwhile, the NRDs countrywide have launched inspection campaigns to flush out illegals.

"We are on the move in the light of the directives of Minister of Interior Lt-Gen. Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan," said Major Al Mazrouei.

He added that the inspection campaigns teams arrested about 80 illegals yesterday in the capital. Source

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No penalty for employer if staff abandons him, joins other firm

The Ministry of Labour (MoL) will scrap penalties imposed on employers whose employees have abandoned them and are working for other firms, provided the employers inform the ministry of such a violation, said a senior labour official.

Speaking to Khaleej Times yesterday, Qaseem Jameel, Deputy Director of the Inspection Department in the MoL, clarified that employers who report to the Inspection Department about the violation of Labour Law by their employees, will not face any punishment or fined.

The official's statement came in the wake of a report submitted by a UAE national, who is the owner of a mechanic workshop in Musaffah industrial area informing the ministry that two of his employees were working for another sponsor.

"The ministry will impose stiff punishment on the companies that hire workers who are sponsored by other employers," said Jameel.

According to the ministerial decision No.589 issued in September 2007, workers will face penalty of deportation and a 'life ban' if they are found working with employers other than their sponsors. Source

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New mechanism for visa and labour card soon

The new link between the offices of the Ministry of Labour (MoL) and the Naturalisation and Residency Departments (NRDs) would be ready soon, said Ahmed Kajour, Executive Director of the IT and Technical Developing Department at the ministry.

He told Khaleej Times on Sunday that the meeting with officials of the NRDs decided to create a new mechanism to issue and cancel the visa and the labour card on the spot at the offices of the MoL around the country.

“We are waiting for the endorsement of Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, to implement the new link between the two wings of the government soon,” said Khajour.

The meeting focused on the benefits, such as online application for employment visas and issuing of visas and labour cards.

“We seek to make all those steps in just one move. The public relations officers (PROs) and the companies’ owners can complete the formalities for getting work permits, employment visas and labour cards in just one move to save the efforts and time,” said Kajour.

In the case of workers who joined other firms after the expiry of their visas, their employers violated the residency law not the labour law, he said.

”We coordinate the efforts with the NRDs to avoid such illegal practices by cancelling the visas with the labour cards at the same time from the same premises.

Meanwhile, sources at the Abu Dhabi Naturalisation and Residency Department (ADNRD), who declined to be named, said the cooperation with the MoL came as part of a plan to facilitate completion of formalities by the applicants and also to weed out the illegal workers from the country after the last amnesty in 2007 succeeded in deporting or legalising the status of more than 300,000 illegals.

The official statistics of the MoL and the NRD showed that more than 3,000 illegals had been caught across the country in the last three months. Source

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No refund of fees for hiring new maids

The fees paid for hiring new maids in the emirate of Abu Dhabi will no longer be refunded, according to sources in the Abu Dhabi Naturalisation and Residency Department (ADNRD).
The sources said that the fee previously was considered refundable guarantee, but the sponsors would now be expected to pay the fee every year if they wish to hire a maid.

“The fee amount would be Dh5,000. The sponsors are expected to pay a minimum wage of Dh400 a month to the maid, in addition to the air ticket,” said the sources.

The sponsor would have the right to utilise the same fee in case the maid decides to quit the job during the contract period.

“In case the maid wants to leave during the year she would have to pay for the air ticket,” said the sources, adding that the expatriate sponsors of maids and domestic helps would forfeit the Dh5,000 fee in case the maid absconds.

A source, who declined to be named, explained that if the residency stamp of the maid is affixed to the expatriate sponsor’s passport and the maid absconds, the sponsor would have to pay fresh Dh5,000 to hire another maid.

“However, a sponsor can change the maid — without paying additional fees — within two months of the latter’s arrival in the country, that is, before the maid’s residency visa is stamped on the sponsor’s passport,” the source added. Source

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Stiffer penalties for illegal residents

Major General Mohammed Salem bin Owaidha Al Khaily, Director General of the Naturalisation & Residency Department (NRD), today said that amendments to the law no. 6 for 1973 on the entry and residence of foreigners have already taken effect. The amended law promises tough penalties against illegal residents.

Major General Owaidha said that violators of the residency law reached 33,602 during the first month of 2008, including 9,048 illegal residents and 24,518 overstaying visitors who entered on visit visas.

He said that NRD was preparing to launch massive inspection campaigns in all parts of the country to weed out the illegal residency phenomenon.

According to law no. 8 for 2007, issued to amend some provisions of federal law no. 8 for 1980, employers of illegal workers could may face imprisonment or/and a fine of AED 50,000. (WAM)

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