Embassies seek extension of amnesty to clear applications

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Diplomatic missions are urging their citizens living illegally to change their status as the amnesty scheme ends on December 1. — File photo
Diplomatic missions are urging their citizens living illegally to change their status as the amnesty scheme ends on December 1. - File photo

Embassy officials have urged expats to make the most of the last two days.

By Dhanusha Gokulan

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Published: Thu 29 Nov 2018, 10:44 PM

With just two days left to avail of the amnesty, applicants are rushing from pillar to post trying to sort out all paperwork required for them to start anew.
From procuring birth certificates for their babies to clearing debts, several amnesty-seekers have a few more steps to complete until they are granted relief from their hefty fines and penalties.
The programme - Protect Yourself by Modifying Your Status -  launched by the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (FAIC) on August 1, was supposed to end on October 31. However, as some embassies and consulates were overwhelmed with documents to process, causing further delays, the FAIC decided to extend the amnesty till December 1.
Though there has been no official announcement about another extension, some diplomatic missions and beneficiaries are hoping the programme will be extended for a few more weeks. The Bangladeshi mission in Abu Dhabi had put in a request to extend the amnesty in October, as it had received a request to issue 12,000 new passports, which can only be printed in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.
Muhammad Imran, Bangladesh's Ambassador to the UAE, told Khaleej Times: "We have again placed a request last week for an extension on the amnesty programme... All passports are now machine-readable, and for security reasons, we only have one machine to print the passports."
Since the start of the amnesty, the embassy has issued a total of 15,000 new passports and approximately 5,000 to 6,000 emergency travel documents, he said.
In November, the mission received 500 new passport applications, and those who have applied after November 15 can expect to receive the passports only by the second week of December, Imran said.
"The move to extend would be very helpful for Bangladeshi nationals," he added. He said most amnesty-seekers were blue-collar workers who were not well-educated and some didn't understand what the amnesty programme was about.
Explaining the high number of Bangladeshi amnesty-seekers, Imran added: "In the last six years, there has been no recruitment of Bangladeshis in the job market. When their visa expired, many decided to stay back given that they could not return on another visa. Now, all beneficiaries have chosen to regularise their status."
Illegal residents urged to finish paperwork
Embassy officials have urged expatriates to make the most of the last two days and not to wait till December 1 to finalise their amnesty paperwork. However, for amnesty-seekers like Ruqiya Ahsan Ali and her children - Laila (4) and Barhaan (2) - the process has been extremely challenging. Abandoned by her husband, the Pakistani mother was not able to obtain her son's birth certificate.
"Thanks to the readers of Khaleej Times, my bills were paid way back in September. However, my husband refused to cooperate with me and provide a no-objection certificate to get my son's birth certificate. The father's original passport is also required," she said. "I am still trying hard to get my son amnesty. I could only get done mine and my daughter's paperwork completed."
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com


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