UAE’s Federal Authority For Identity and Citizenship reminds immigrants to be aware of the expiry date of their ‘jobseeker’ visa as violators will be facing accumulating fines starting from Dh 100 for the first day and Dh 25 for each consecutive day that passes as well as risk themselves from possible jail time and deportation.
Majority of the jobseeker visas were given out during the 5-month government campaign titled “protect yourself by modifying your status” that was launched last August 2018 and stretched to five months – until December 2018 where all violators of the visa law were not only exempted from their fees, they were also given two options to either be repatriated or given the chance to look for a job within the six-month validity of their visa.
Now that the six-month visa validity is nearing its expiry stage, Saeed Rakan Al Rashidi, Director General of Foreign Affairs and Ports at the Authority, stressed that violators will be treated the same as violators of a residency visa, as per a report from Khaleej Times.
Al Rashidi likewise said that the introduction of the job seeker visa falls within the directives of the country’s wise leadership to give a chance for people to find jobs and stay within the country. The initiative was done in partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE).
Those who are still under the job seeker visa are advised by the government to get a legal job as soon as possible to stay in the country. Al Rashidi furthers that all citizens, residents, and investors should make sure that all holders of the job seeker visa should have the visa sponsorship transferred before hiring them, or else they will face a fine of Dh50,000.
At most, the expiration of the job seeker visas issued last December 2018 will be by June 2019.
