I am an Algerian on a tourist visa here in Dubai. I signed an offer letter on November 8 and was waiting for my visa change (tourist to work visa). On December 12, a company representative called me and said that my work visa was rejected. He said the company would try to apply for a free zone work visa since the first one failed. What should I do in this situation?

Offer letters generally have a clause stating that the offer is subject to approval of your visa application by the authorities in the UAE.

There could be several reasons why your visa application was rejected by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiritisation. For instance, the employer does not have quota to employ another employee; or your employment visa held previously was not cancelled properly; or an employment ban from a previous employment; or any other reason.

You may consider to exit the UAE upon expiry of your tourist visa and once your employment visa is issued by the authorities to a free zone entity, you may arrive on an employment visa.

Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates.

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