The Ministry of Interior issued nearly 2.1 million visas and other permits to expatriates for entry into the UAE last year, according to official statistics. These permits include residence visas, visit visas, work permits and the ones issued to GCC nationals and others.
According to the statistics of the General Directorate for Planning and Development at the Ministry of Interior, visit permits comprised the majority, making up 710,000, which is nearly 33 per cent of the total.
Workers in the private sector and housemaids made up 87.6 per cent of the work permits issued last year. It is estimated that around 476,000 work permits were issued.
Around 135,000 work permits were issued to drivers and farm workers. This category makes up a total of 28.4 per cent of residence visas. As for the residence visas to the private sector, the ministry issued around 58,000 which makes nearly 1.2 per cent of the total.
The report also showed that residence visas for non-workers and those sponsored by their spouses such as wives and relatives, totalled nearly 81,700 while tourist visas exceeded 303,000.
Emirate-wise, Dubai issued the largest number of permits reaching approximately 1.3 million. Abu Dhabi and Al Ain issued about 287,000, making 13.6 per cent of the total. Sharjah came third, issuing around 243,000, accounting for 11.5 per cent of the total. Fujairah issued 46,000, Ajman 35,000 and Umm Al Quwain 9,300.
A breakdown showed that Asian nationalities had the lion's share of those permits, receiving around 1.3 million. They include Indians who made up 37.2 per cent of the total permits for Asians and 23.7 per cent of the total work permits issued last year.
Iranians came next as permits issued to them exceeded 240,000, making nearly 11.4 per cent of the total work permits.
Pakistanis came third, obtaining more than 176,000 permits, accounting for 13 per cent of the total granted to Asians.
As for Arabs, the permits issued to them came to 384,000, nearly 18.2 per cent of the total. More than 139,000 of the total permits were issued to Americans and Europeans accounting for a 37 per cent increase while a smaller number received work permits.
As for work permits the total number issued by Dubai reached 195,000 while nearly 146,000 were issued by Abu Dhabi.
Gulf News
