A senior immigration official in Abu Dhabi said steps were being considered to encourage legal workforce in the UAE, including an extension of the visit visa duration to six months to allow people to stay longer to look for jobs.
The measures under study are aimed at reducing the number of illegal residents in the UAE, said Lieutenant Colonel Nasser Al Menhali, Director of the Abu Dhabi Naturalisation and Residency Department.
He said among the proposals is the extension of the visit visa from three months (after one renewal) to six months so that visitors looking for jobs in the country would have enough time and would not commit violations by overstaying their welcome.
However, it was not clear when a decision on the proposal will be made.
Other proposed measures involve stiffer penalties against violators.
"In the first half of last year, 66 inspection campaigns were conducted, resulting in 680 violators being arrested. Most of them were from Asian countries," said the official.
Officials said latest figures on the number of visit visa rule violators were not available because many of the visitors leave the UAE from points other than their entry point. This was before the electronic link-up between immigration authorities came to being, they said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor has also imposed the no-entry ban on 2,319 workers since the beginning of September, officials said.
By Abdallah Shahin
© Emirates Today 2006
