ABU DHABI: Utter confusion
prevailed over the new
residence visas norms with
the local media reporting
conflicting reports. There
was widespread dismay,
particularly amongst NRIs,
when the General Directorate
of Residency and Foreigner
Affairs required
those wishing to obtain or
renew visas from June 1 to
provide a valid lease contract
attested by their municipality
and utility bills
in their name.
|
On Sunday, the ministry
reversed that change
and said no such documents
were required. On
Tuesday, however, it clarified
that the documentswere indeed required, but
they need not be attested.
A leading Dubai newspaper
reported that the new
rule will be implemented
only after the summer vacation
as many expat
families have gone out of
the country and would
face problems while returning
|
The confusion was evident
at immigration offices.
In Al Ain, authorities were
asking visa applicants to
produce a copy of their
tenancy contracts. In Abu
Dhabi, they did not. Long
queues built up at the customer
care desk in Al Ainimmigration department as
residents gathered to inquire
about the new rules.
One Joshep Ereira, said:
“I have been to the immigration
office and found out
that they are still asking for
the tenancy contract and
utility bills. There are now
endless woes and frustration,
not to mention the
long lines at the information
counter of people all
trying to find out about the
new residence visa law.
|
“I am not exactly sure
what the region of Al Ain
is trying to achieve from all
this. People are really going
to get more and more frustrated
from lack of information
about laws chang-ing from time to time in
Abu Dhabi and having no
effect in Al Ain.”
|
Meanwhile in Abu
Dhabi city another resident
applying for a visa for his
family was not asked for
either a tenancy contract or
utility bills and immigration
officials were processing
paperwork as usual.
Maj Gen Nasser Al
Menhali, the assistant
undersecretary at the ministry
of interior responsible
for residency, said the revised
rules would be implemented
nationwide in an
effort by the ministry to
compile a database of residents’
addresses.
|
It was necessary to have
the addresses in order to reach
residents quickly in case of
emergency and the old addresses
were unclear, imprecise
and hard to find in a
timely manner, he said.
Maj Gen Al Menhali said:
“No attestation of the tenancy
contract is required from the
municipality and this rule is
going to be implemented
across the Emirates.”
|
He said the decision by the
General Directorate of Residency
and Foreigner Affairs in
Abu Dhabi to require the extra
documentation was “an
administrative decision
meant to ease the process of
identifying people’s domiciles
and to ascertain their place of
residence”. Responding to requests
for clarification of the
decision and its impact on
those living in shared accommodation,
Maj Gen Al
Menhali said: “The decision
applies to anyone who has a
home address and will be applicable
to all the Emirates.”
A tenancy contract or a
water and electricity bill must
be attached to the visa renewal
application as proof of
the applicant’s place of residence,
he said.
|
Labourers who work for
companies that offer collective
housing must also bring
proof of where they live, providing
an address and a letter
from their employer to that effect
or any form of contract
that substantiates their place
of residence, he said. The requirement
is intended “first
and foremost to verify the addresses
of all residents in thecountry for security and procedural
purposes”, he said.
|
Maj Gen Al Menhali added:
“It is a security, service-related
and administrative measure
taken by the General Directorates
for Residency and Foreigner
Affairs in the nation. It
does not target any particular
social segment or property developer;
it simply serves residency
departments in updating
their data, establishing the
addresses of people residing in
the country and documenting
them properly.” He also said
the requirements were not
unique to the UAE, and were
common in many developed
countries.
|