Residents who will have their working permits or residency visas cancelled by their company will now be allowed up to 180 days or six months of grace period to stay in the UAE, as of October 3.
Prior to this, UAE residents were only provided a grace period of 30 days or one month.
The measure is part of a slew of the UAE’s massive visa reforms to date which began its implementation on Monday, October 3.
“We are relaxing the grace period one gets to leave the country after being made redundant. Instead of the previous 30 days, people will have 90 to 180 days to leave the country,” said Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade when the measure was first announced in September 2021.
This is in line with the country’s plans to attract and retain the world’s best talent to live and work in the country.
In addition, Golden Visa residents are now allowed to stay outside of the country for more than six months without losing their residency status.
Previously, all residence holders are mandated to revisit the UAE once every six months to maintain their residency status. While this measure stays for all other residency types, Golden Visa holders are now exempted from this rule.
