Gangs selling fake UAE visas busted

DUBAI - The Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) has unveiled the existence of gangs producing and selling fake entry permits and announced the apprehension of the individuals involved in the racket and the recovery of 58 fake visas and a total of Dh39,900 from them.

By A Staff Reporter

Published: Sun 22 Aug 2004, 9:33 AM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 1:18 PM

The DNRD has warned the general public to be increasingly vigilant against groups involved in the illegal activities.

According to DNRD officials, recent investigations conducted by the department’s Investigation and Contron Section, lifted the lid on groups engaged in the production and sale of fake employment and visit visas. The members of these groups befriend individuals and offer them a chance to buy an employment or a visit visa. They then print the details of the person seeking entry into the UAE on a fake blank pink colour visa sheet and sell the fake document at rates between Dh3,500 and Dh5,000.

The counterfeits are easily recognisable because of the low quality of paper and the absence of many embedded security features that form an important part of an authentic visa.

Brigadier Saeed Mattar bin Blailah, Director of DNRD, said: “Expatriates benefit from the flexible laws and regulations set to obtain either employment or visit visas. Competent individuals, in accordance with the UAE laws and regulations, can apply for visas through legitimate channels only. Members of the general public are advised to be on guard against anyone who claims they could get them visas upon payment. They are also urged to report incidents involving individuals promising visas for sale or share their knowledge of such illegal activity with the DNRD.”

“The DRND has put in place sophisticated systems to detect and prevent people possessing counterfeit visas from entering the country. We aim to work with the members of the general public to curb such illegal practices. Therefore, we urge our customers to contact the DNRD to check the authenticity of the visas obtained by them and to report any abuse,” added the DNRD director.

Lt-Col Rashid Bakeet Al Jumairi, DNRD Assistant Director for Investigation and Control section, said: “We are committed to rooting out this illegal activity and protecting members of the general public who lack the knowledge of proper legal procedures to obtain a visa from being swindled. We are issuing a stern warning against individuals who are involved in this practice, to let them know that the DNRD will spare no expense in tracking down the perpetrators and bring them to book.”