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Sponsor’s nod not needed on visa transfer in six conditions

DUBAI — In a major relief for unpaid workers in the private sector, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs will grant sponsorship transfer to them if their complaints of pending wages for three months or more are upheld after a joint investigation by the Labour Relations and Inspection departments, a source in the ministry said.

A ministerial order to this effect, which will be enforced from Saturday, has also specified five other categories under which workers will be eligible for change of sponsor.

The sponsorship transfer will be granted without the need to get the first sponsor's approval in five other cases that were specified in an order issued by the Minister Dr Ali Abdullah Al Kaabi yesterday, the sources disclosed to Khaleej Times.

In cases of workers who would be eligible for such ministerial transfers but did not complete the stipulated years of service with their sponsors that came in the Cabinet Decision No. 18 of 2005, a Dh3,000 fee should be paid by the new sponsor in addition to the sponsorship transfer fee of the category he or she belonged to, the source elaborated.

The ministerial order No. 12 will be enforced from Saturday in implementation of Article No. 5 of the Cabinet Decision No. 18 of 2005, granting this right to all categories of the private sector workers.

The order specified six cases when the ministry will grant sponsorship transfer without the need for the sponsor's approval.

If the worker filed a complaint to the ministry, which was later, transferred to the Court, the ministry will grant the worker a sponsorship transfer based on a relevant judicial order.

Sponsorship transfer will also be granted by the ministry in case of the closure of the company following the death of its owner. The closure should be documented before the ministry.

Sponsorship transfer is granted by the ministry should the ownership of the company be transferred to another establishment. “This means that the worker of a sold company will be transferred by the ministry without the approval of the seller, under the name given by the buying company. This is also applicable in case of mergers between companies,” he explained adding, “the ownership transfer of the company should be proved in documents before the ministry”.

The closure of the company against an administrative or judicial decision gives the ministry the right to grant sponsorship transfer to the workers.

The minister will endorse sponsorship transfer for cases that are recommended and submitted to him by the ministry's departments concerned.

The second para of the order stipulates that other conditions that came in the Cabinet Decision No. 18 of 2005 regarding the worker's years of service to be eligible for sponsorship transfer and the stipulated fees should be maintained when implementing this order.

Article 2 of the Cabinet Decision stipulated that holders of masters and doctorate degrees should serve a minimum of one year to be eligible for sponsorship transfer, two years for holders of bachelors degrees and three years for the remaining categories of workers.

It also imposed fee of Dh1,500 for the transfer of workers holding masters and doctorate degrees, Dh3,000 for the transfer holders of bachelor degrees, and Dh5,000 for the rest of the categories.

However, Article No. 1 of the same Cabinet Decision has authorised the minister to exempt from the condition of years of service provided that a fee of Dh3, 000 should be paid for the exemption on top of the relevant sponsorship transfer fee of the category the involved worker belonged to.

“If the worker who would be eligible for sponsorship transfer without the sponsor's approval under the above mentioned cases and did not complete the stipulated years of service, then Dh3, 000 should be paid by the new sponsor on top of the sponsorship transfer fees, the source added.

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