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Ministry to discuss e-visas today

ABU DHABI - The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs will today discuss in the capital the introduction of a new advanced system for issuing group visas electronically, according to a senior official.

Speaking to newsmen on Saturday, Dr Khalid Mohammed Al Khazraji, Under-Secretary of the ministry, said a meeting will be held today for senior labour officials to discuss the new system, which is expected to regulate the foreign labour force in the local labour market and facilitate the procedures required in issuing work permits.

The new system will also put an end to the bureaucracy followed in issuing employment visas and also guarantee accuracy in dealing with employment visa applications, said Dr Khazraji.

He told reporters that the meeting would also discuss a set of measures aimed at facilitating the bank guarantee system and the loopholes facing implementation of the ministerial decree No. 14 of 2001, which stipulates the sponsor is responsible for paying a bank guarantee of Dh3,000 for each employee he recruits in his enterprise.

The decision aims at protecting workers' rights and enable the ministry to secure a financial source in case of any violation of labour contract.

Dr Khazraji stated that other issues including, a new restructuring system for the ministry, would also be discussed in today's meeting.

He said officials would also discuss the utilisation of e-services to facilitate and upgrade labour transactions.

He said the ministry is looking forward to boost the activities of the `e-unit' department at the ministry and introduce it at all grand private companies in the capital.

The under-secretary said that the ministry is targeting reputed and major companies in the UAE, with good IT infrastructure, so as to provide a faster and quality services and implement the newly designed e-transaction concept in handling and processing different applications.

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