Starting tomorrow, overstay fines will be applicable to tourists in the UAE whose visit visas expired after March 1, Amer call centre officers and travel and tourism companies confirmed to Khaleej Times.

On July 10, the government of UAE had announced that "holders of the UAE's visit or tourist visas that expired after March 1 must leave the UAE within one month from 11 July 2020; that is by August 11." It said, "They can leave without facing fines or violations for the past period."

Khaleej Times reached out to several Amer centres across Dubai, who said a fine of Dh100 per day will be imposed on those who are overstaying after August 11. An agent in Karama confirmed: "Overstayers will have to pay Dh100 for each day they overstay."

Last-minute applicants cause huge rush

Furthermore, several travel agencies with operations across the UAE also confirmed that fines will be levied on overstaying visit visa holders starting August 11.

Heads of travel agencies and typing centres have also said they are experiencing a huge rush caused by a surge of last-minute applicants trying to rectify their status. Afi Ahmed, managing director, Smart Travels told, "Those whose visas expired during the Covid-19 lockdown period, that is after March 1, will have to leave the UAE by tonight (August 10). However, in the last two days, we have received a huge surge of last-minute applications."

He explained, "This has caused a backlog in the system. Usually, visit visa approvals come through in a matter of minutes or a maximum of one day. Due to the huge volume of applications, it is taking a lot more time."

Most overstay visa holders decided to stay back

Afi said his agency is seeing more applicants who have decided to stay back and renew their visa status instead of booking flights to return home. "A majority have chosen to stay back, and many have waited until the last minute to change their visa status. We have had at least 3,000 applications in the last two days," added Ahmed.

Sudheesh TP, general manager Deira Travels said, "There are three categories of people we are seeing now. The first group of people were the ones who were wary of the deadlines and renewed their visas immediately, and the second group is people who waited till the last minute to change their visa status."

He added, "The third category of people is the ones who cannot afford to pay for the renewal or buy tickets to their home countries. We are also seeing a handful of such distress cases who are taking risks in the hope they will be offered a last-minute grace period."

Rashid Abbas, managing director, Arooha Tours and Travels, also said there were several hundred made last-minute applications. "We have to follow a two-step process to change the visit visa status of those in the UAE. First, they have to apply for a new visa and the next step is to change status."

Agents stop taking new applications

Agents have also said their staff have been working till 2-3am in the past two days to enter data of new applicants into the system. Abbas and Sudheesh have said their agencies have stopped taking new applications at least two days ago.

Similarly, Harish Kumar, the managing director of Jubilant Group, said, "There were a lot of rumours online, especially on TikTok and YouTube which misled people to assume that they have more time to apply for a renewal. We, however, have stopped taking applications since last night. Given the surge in demand, an extension would be ideal. It would really help people."

Moreover, there was also a surge in the number of passengers who returned to India in the last five days. Neeraj Agarwal, consul - press, information and culture at the Consulate General of India in Dubai and the Northern Emirates said, "Flights were busy. There were 4,000-5,000 passengers who returned on Vande Bharat Mission and unscheduled flights for past five days. We did witness some last-minute rush." Over 300,000 Indians have returned to India from the UAE since the launch of the Mission in May, added Agarwal.

'There was enough time to apply'

Sudheesh also stated that people cannot complain about 'not having enough time' to change their status. "This was announced several weeks ago. People had plenty of time to change their visa status," said Sudheesh. Afi Ahmed said a majority of the applications are from Indian, Filipino, and Pakistani nationals.

Sudheesh added, "We are witnessing a surge of applications from Indian nationals who would like to change their status or return home to India. However, the government of India gave priority to those on visit visas to return on the Vande Bharat Mission since May this year."

Documents needed to apply for a new visa:

> Passport copy: front, back page
> Photo  
> Last visa copy

Cost  

In Dubai, the charges being levied for a three-month visa renewal is Dh1,834. The application charge is Dh1276, and after approval, it is Dh558 for changing status.

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