Diplomats welcome overseas visa centre announcement

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Diplomats welcome overseas visa centre announcement
The UAE will open visa issuing centres in 11 countries.

Abu Dhabi - It will lessen the problems labourers sometimes face, such as visa objections due to their health problems, says Pakistan Ambassador to the UAE.

by

Silvia Radan

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Published: Mon 25 Apr 2016, 6:43 PM

Last updated: Tue 26 Apr 2016, 8:32 AM

Embassies in Abu Dhabi welcomed UAE's decision to shift work visa applications from the UAE to the country of the applicant. The move, claimed Abu Dhabi-based diplomats, will help avoid many issues applicants often face, as well as saving money for the companies that pay for their travel and application process in the UAE.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratistion announced they are already working to set up UAE visa issuing centres in 11 countries - Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Senegal, Nigeria, India and Pakistan. Citizens of these countries will be able to sign job offers and go through the visa application process back home.
 

"We welcome the new visa centres. It will lessen the problems labourers sometimes face, such as objections to their health," said Asif Ali Durrani, the Pakistani ambassador in Abu Dhabi.
Indeed, one of the main reasons for people especially from south Asia being denied work visa in the UAE is testing positive for tuberculosis, which automatically leads to rejecting applications.
According to UAE authorities, identity theft and trying to re-enter UAE after being deported were also reasons for establishing the new visa centres.
"We have 1.3 million Pakistani nationals living in the UAE and, according to employment agencies, around 5,000 Pakistanis are demanding work visa every month. I don't know how many get it, but I do hope that establishing a new UAE visa centre in Pakistan is a good step and it would avoid many current issues," Durrani told Khaleej Times.
The two UAE ministries also announced that Sri Lanka, Kenya, Indonesia and Bangladesh would be the first to have UAE visa issuing centres.
The new centres will provide administrative services associated with the issuance of entry permits to the UAE, which includes services such as validating entry documents, medical examinations and fingerprinting.
However, Mohammad Imran, the Bangladesh Ambassador in Abu Dhabi, pointed out that a visa centre for UAE already exists in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, since December 2015.
"We very much welcome the new initiative. We had a UAE visa office opened in Dhaka last December, which issues different types of visas," he said.
The Dhaka centre is issuing over 600 visas daily and uses passport authentication and biometrics such as fingerprints, eye prints and face prints. It also runs medical tests conducted at 34 Bangladeshi centres accredited by the UAE Ministry of Health, in order to identify and prevent entry of individuals with contagious diseases. Nearly 700,000 Bangladesh nationals now live in the UAE.
"We hope the new centre will facilitate smooth recruitments of Bangladeshi nationals and we look forward to further cooperation with the UAE authorities for more manpower recruitment," added Imran.
silvia@khaleejtimes.com


Asif Ali Durrani
Asif Ali Durrani

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