- 2/15/2025
All your questions about Dubai residency, overstay fines, cancellation of residency and more answered by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Since the outbreak of COVID-19, it has a noticeable impact on our daily life on different aspects in the UAE.
00:09One of the things that COVID-19 affected was the visa matters, anything related to the visit visas and residency and renewing the residency for everybody in the UAE.
00:22We are here to speak with Major Salim Bin Ali about the latest updates. He's going to answer your questions related to visa issues and residency.
00:33Hi, Major Salim.
00:34Hi.
00:35So, we received a lot of questions.
00:38One of the questions is, for the people who were staying illegally in the country before 1st of March, the violators before 1st of March 2020, when is the deadline for them that they can travel without fines?
00:55First of all, thank you very much and welcome to GDRFA.
01:01As usual, Gulf News are doing great things to show and to tell the clients and the readers about the right rules, the updates that's coming on from GDRFA and from UAE government.
01:22So, as the first question, people who overstayed before 1st of March, as mentioned, there is an extent for that. Their last day to leave the country is 17th of November.
01:40So, 17th of November is the last day to leave the country without any fines, without any payment for that.
01:50So, we hope and we ask our clients to start finalizing their things in UAE and to leave before that date.
02:00Okay. So, what about the residents who are inside the UAE and their visa expired after 1st of March?
02:09After 1st of March, before 12th of July. So, this is the period for the people who are inside the country, the residents, who their visa are finished after 1st of March and before 12th of July.
02:28Those people are extended till the 10th of October. So, 10-10-2020 is the last day. So, they have to change the status or they have to renew or whatever they're going to start to do.
02:43The other important point that we have to mention, people who cancelled in this period between 1st of March and 12th of July, they are already overstayed now.
03:00Because that one is, as we said, they have their one month period between 12th of July till 11th of August. So, those people will be on fine. They have to change the status or they have to cancel or they have to leave the country and pay the fine of course or to renew their visa.
03:22So, for the people, the residents that their residency cancelled after July 12th?
03:32They have their normal 30 days.
03:36The grace period?
03:37Yes, exactly.
03:39For any residency that's been cancelled after July 12th?
03:42Yes.
03:43So, just like back to normal?
03:44Exactly.
03:45Is the approval still needed for residents outside the UAE to come back to Dubai? I'm talking about Dubai residents.
03:53Yes. They have to go through the website, they have to apply for the permit and they'll get the response as soon as possible. I mean, it's the same time response.
04:07We have a huge team who's working on this one and of course, there is some requirement for some professions. It's mentioned all on the website.
04:19So, the permit is required, yes. And it's valid for 30 days.
04:28The validity of the permit?
04:29Yes. So, you have two things to put in mind. If it's rejected, you cannot apply after five days and if it is approved and you get the permit, it's valid for 30 days.
04:45But, to put in mind, for each trip, such as if we have someone who's inside the country and they want to leave for a short trip and come back, so it's a business trip or whatever, what kind of trip, they have to apply again.
05:04So, it's not multiple use, it's one time use.
05:09So, by talking about the approvals, do I need to make the approval before I leave the country if I'm a resident here?
05:17It's better.
05:18I mean, I can?
05:20No, no, it's better. You can. You can. And it's better.
05:25And the other important thing is, for people who are, I mean, the residence has been expired between 1st of March and 12th of July, so they have to renew because it's valid till 10th of October, but they have to renew before traveling.
05:42So, they cannot travel. They cannot use this period. It's just only for people who are inside the country.
05:48So, till 10th of October, it doesn't mean that your visa is renewed and you can leave and come. It's renewed while you are inside the country.
05:56But to leave, you have to renew your visa, your residence, and to have a new residence, you can leave and come. Otherwise, you won't be able to come back. You have to apply for a new visa.
06:07So, you can travel, but you can't come back?
06:08No.
06:09Okay, so you need to change your status or renew it?
06:12Yes, exactly.
06:13So, you're saying it has a validity of 30 days?
06:16Yes.
06:18What about the residents who are outside the country now for more than 6 months? Is his residency still valid?
06:27We have more than one case. If the residence or the visa is valid on the system, or it's valid on the sticker itself, and it's on the COVID period, they can enter the country. They are fine.
06:39Even if they exceeded the 6 months?
06:41Yes, no problem.
06:42But to make sure more, because sometimes the system will close or will cancel the visa, just to make sure, because they are applying for a permit. If they got the permit, it means everything is fine, your visa is fine, you can enter the UAE.
07:03But if it's rejected or you cannot apply, it says your visa is blocked, so they have to call our call center and submit a case, and we'll start investigating on each issue or each application as a separate.
07:18Okay, regarding that, how can they contact you if they are outside the country?
07:22We have, of course, from outside, we have our international number, which is 9714-313-9999. It's 9714-313-9999, it's 1247, and it's the same call center as the people who are inside the country, they can use it, which is the toll-free 805111. It's Amr call center.
07:49They can also send you an email?
07:51Yes, they can send it to Amr at dnrd.ae, so they are most welcome, they can use the chat, it's on the website, so we have more than one option. It's in dnrd or gdrfa.ae, we have the chat, so they can chat with our call center agency.
08:11We have a question about what's the situation for renewing residency for people above 60?
08:17It depends, what kind of visa is that? I mean residency, I mean parents, because if we are going through Mohri, I mean labor, that's their rule, and I think it's 65 now, it's not 60.
08:36But when we are talking about the parent's visa, if we have a medical from DHA, and it says it's fine, they can renew. I mean it's okay with the age.
08:46The person is fit?
08:47It's fit, okay, we have a medical, and they can renew yearly as a parent's visa, okay, a residence. If I'm talking about, say, an employment, as I told you, it depends on the rule on Mohri. I mean they have their rule with the labor, they have their rule with employment, I can call it, yeah.
09:11After COVID-19, we're still in COVID-19, but the visit visa, Dubai visit visa, is it issued now?
09:20Yes, the visit visa is on, it depends on the country itself, that if they are not locked down, you can apply for a visa. Just before applying, I can ask people to call the airline and check if there is a flight to Dubai from their country. So this is the important thing.
09:40Can you tell us, because many people ask, what's the difference between visit visa and tourist visa?
09:44Actually, there are around maybe 15 kinds of visa, visit visa.
09:48Yes.
09:49Yeah, so it's a matter of why you submit or you apply for the visa. If we're going to say it's a tourist visa, from the name of the visa, you are coming here as a tourist. So the people, I mean, the one who will apply, it's a tourist company or a travel agent.
10:08So this is a tourist visa. But when I'm talking about visit visa, it's of course the individual sponsor, like you are sponsoring your family, you are sponsoring a family relative. So this is the difference between them. At the end, they are both a short term or a specific term of staying in the UAE.
10:30It starts from 96 hours to reach 90 days. So it depends, as I told you, there are multiple kinds.
10:40So tourist visa is issued by companies?
10:42Exactly, tourist company. But visit visa, it's by individuals. We have some companies that are issuing visit visa, but those companies are not based as a tourist company or tourist agents, we can call them.
10:53Did you notice an increase in people applying to visit Dubai?
10:57Of course, the number is increasing. But as I mentioned, it still depends on the country itself. I mean, from where they are coming. If it's allowed, it's allowed to, I mean, the flights are open.
11:15If I can say they don't have problem to go back, somehow people are asking like, okay, if I reach to Dubai and I have to have a test, a PCR test, and those all procedures, I mean, COVID procedures, it depends. So the number is increasing.
11:33We witnessed a Russian group of tourists.
11:36Yes, as we mentioned last, past days.
11:40Back to the approvals for residence. If I get, if I'm a Dubai residence and get approval, can I just like enter the country from Abu Dhabi or Sharjah?
11:48Yes.
11:49Some people who just like affected by COVID and their visas were cancelled and stuff. Is there, and they couldn't return back to their countries because there is no airspace now, it's closed. Is there any kind of help that you guys might provide for them?
12:07First of all, you have to put in mind you are in UAE. So for sure, we have a solution for any case. But as Major General mentioned, like previously, he said, we are looking at the cases, case by case.
12:25So we are asking the people to come to us and just explain what's happening. For sure, we are taking each case as it's different. We know the countries are, which is locked down. So for sure, we will have a solution for this person.
12:38I have a question from one of my colleagues. He said that his daughter, she has a residence, but it's expired on May this year. She's studying in Europe. So he's saying, do I need to cancel her residency and issue a visit visa for her to come?
12:56It's expired outside the country?
12:58She's outside the country. The visa expired on May.
13:01On May?
13:02Yes. So he needs, he's here. I mean, her father is here.
13:05Okay.
13:06He can renew for her?
13:07Yes, as I told you. Even for those, we have case by case. They can just call the call center and give them the visa number, and they'll give them the status of the visa.
13:15Because most probably, as I told you, if it's from the company, it's issued from a company, it's issued from a personal or individual sponsorship. So it depends, case by case.
13:29Just let them call the call center and 313-9999. It's an international call. And they will give her exactly the status. But the worst scenario, the worst case, they can apply again. And if they are legible, I mean, or they can enter one of those over 70 countries that they have visa on arrival, so they are most welcome.
13:50The guy, he entered as a visit visa in 2019. Now he's staying illegally in the country?
13:56He can leave before 17th of November.
13:58Or he can change his status?
14:00Yeah, but in this case, there is a fine will be there.
14:02If he changed his status?
14:03Yes. So most probably, he can ask, as I told you, he can see the case and exactly know, study the case itself. He can apply to the committee, and they will reply for that.
14:18Is it back now issuing a new residency?
14:20Yes, for families.
14:22For families?
14:23Yes, families. Families, they can issue even if they are outside the country.
14:28Can you talk to us about the retirement visa?
14:31Very good question. Because we are facing a lot of questions on this visa.
14:36Yes, just like this one.
14:38I'll give a brief about it. It's very easy. We have one of the three requirements. You have it, so you can apply for this visa.
14:53One is to have a property worth 2 million dirhams.
14:58Inside the UAE?
15:01Yes, inside the UAE. And you own it, I mean. Or you have a bank fixed amount, fixed deposit, which is 2 million dirhams as cash.
15:13Or to have a fixed retirement salary. Over 20,000 and over.
15:19So let us take an example. You are a staff in a government sector, for example. You've been a staff, and you are retired.
15:27You can approve that from the bank that you have, or from your old place of work, just that you are receiving 20,000 dirhams monthly as a retirement salary.
15:45You can apply for the visa, and you will get a five-year visa.
15:48I need to conclude with very important information for our client, and for your readers, of course.
15:57Today, we are in this pandemic, so most probably the rules have been changed.
16:08So please, always you have to just ask our call center.
16:13Whatever regard about the visas, residence, it's through our call center.
16:19From inside the country, it's toll-free, 800-5111.
16:22Outside the country, it's 9714-313-9999.
16:27Whatever belongs to GDRFA regarding the visas, regarding the residence, we can answer you.
16:35But just I want to make sure that we are all one government, but still each government entity, they have their own rule.
16:42So whatever questions belongs to or goes under the health and safety procedure,
16:49so shall I have a PCR, I don't have a PCR, so this kind of test, how can I test, where to go,
16:57every entity has their own information and updates.
17:01So just please, I'm asking those readers to go through our call center for any question.
17:10Take the information from the official channels.
17:13When I say official channels, I'm starting from UAGov, and then I'm going back to, of course, the official newspapers.
17:23And your official, I mean channels, official channels means on social media, like Gulf News, other newspapers,
17:35and then we'll go back to our main official channels, GDRFA Dubai.
17:41GDRFA Dubai is our official channel in all platforms, like YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, whatever.
17:51It's totally GDRFA Dubai.
17:54So I can say, inshallah, this pandemic will go over and we'll come back to our normal life.
18:05To everyone in UAE, to everyone in the world, just stay safe.
18:09That was our interview with Major Salim from GDRFA Dubai.
18:12I hope that he answered all your questions, all your inquirements.
18:16For any questions, for more details, please log in to www.gulfnews.com to get the latest.
18:23Thanks for watching.
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