Children under 15 now need ID card -Eida

Abu Dubai authorities have cancelled a decision to exempt children under 15 from having a national ID card and told their families to register them before the end of a new deadline on October 1.

The announcement by the Emirates National Identity Authority (Eida) follows a decision by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) that all children must produce a national ID card when registering for the new school year.

“Emirati and expatriate families of all children under 15 must apply to register their children with the national identity,” Eida said in a statement carried by the Sharjah-based Arabic language daily 'Al Khaleej'.

“This is a compulsory measure…they should do so before the end of the deadline on October 1 or they will have to pay delay fees.”

The statement said children who do not have separate passports would not be given an ID card, adding that applicants under that age need not come to Eida registration centres as applications can be submitted by their parents.

'Al Khaleej' said Adec’s decision applies only to public schools and the report did not mention whether such measure would be extended to other emirates.

House maid Visa in UAE

HOW TO SPONSOR A HOUSE MAID IN UAE

Unlike normal residence permits, residence permits for maids or domestic help are for periods of one year if the sponsor is an expatriate, but if the sponsor is local citizen then the period is two years. It should be noted that only individual’s resident and not businesses may employ maids or domestic help. Such individuals will assume the role of the domestic helper’s sponsor for immigration purposes, provided they satisfy the conditions stipulated under Article 23 of the Decree, namely:

• Have a monthly salary of at least AED 6,000.

• The sponsor has not sponsored a domestic helper or a housemaid for one year ending on the date the application is submitted.

• The helper is not related to the sponsor.

• The sponsor resides in the country with his family.

There are additional requirements regarding women who practise certain professions such as in the fields of medicine and engineering.

It is illegal to employ a domestic help who is on someone else’s sponsorship. It is not permitted to transfer the sponsorship of a domestic helper to a new employer, unless a period of at least one year has lapsed from the date the helper last left the country. This is pursuant to Article 63 of the Decree which states that when an employment is terminated, the residence permit for employment is considered void and that, no entry permit or new visa can be issued unless after the lapse of six months from the last date of departure from the country, and for one year for house servants.Ó6

6.Article 63 Federal Law 1973

The deposit amount of a housemaid visa for Dubai was recently reduced from AED 5,000 to AED 2,000, immigration officers confirmed. (as per Gulf news report)

Contrary to past rules, however, this deposit of AED 2,000 will only be refunded upon the housemaid’s return to her home country. In the past, the deposit of Dh5,000 was refunded upon completion of the medical fitness test and stamping of the employment visa on the housemaid’s passport.

Documents required for Maid Visa

• ·         Your own salary certificate and labour contract.
• ·         Your tenancy agreement.
• ·         Your passport (and a copy).
• ·         Copy of the maid's passport (and original passport with entry permit after arrival in the UAE).
• ·         Passport photos of the maid (4 should be enough but bring a few extra).
• ·         If you (the sponsor) and the maid are the same nationality, then you will need an affidavit from your embassy or consulate to certify you are not related to the maid.
• ·         AED 5000 deposit for entry visa. Changed to AED 2000 for expat sponsors. Deposit of AED 2000 required from Emirati sponsors remains unchanged.
• ·         AED 5100 for residence visa (annual cost).
• ·         AED 300-400 for health card (annual cost).
• ·         AED 500 for other fees (approximately). Add AED 100 here and there for urgent processing.

Procedures:

1. Go to authorized typist & get form filled up. Pay AED 110 + separate typing fee (which varies from typist to typist). If urgent, pay additional AED 100. 

2. Go to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs - Dubai  & submit all documents after attaching courier sticker for non-urgent visa. For urgent, wait for a few minutes and receive the employment entry permit.  You will have to pay a refundable deposit of AED 2,000 along with the application.  (The deposit was reduced from AED 5000 to AED 2,000. See news update)

3. Send either original visa or copy to your maid. If only copy was sent, then deposit original at DNATA Visa Desk at Dubai airport or at DNRD counter.

Applying residence visa for your maid

1. Apply for residence permit and medical fitness report within 30 days of the arrival of your maid's entry into the country. Visit an authorized typist & pay for either urgent or non-urgent form & submit to DNRD counter.

2. After stamping, take your maid for a medical fitness test  .All new maids will be screened for HIV, pregnancy, Hepatitis B, Syphilis, TB & Leprosy. The Hepatitis B vaccination which costs an additional AED 50 is given in 3 doses - immediately, booster after 1 month and booster after 6 months. If you keep the yellow certificate as proof of all three doses, then when renewing your maid's visa, you do not need to re-do this, as the vaccination and certificate is valid for 10 years.

Costs of Medical Fitness

• Normal fitness test costs AED  325 (AED 260 + AED 50 for Hepatitis B vaccination + AED 15 for courier and takes 5-7 working days to get the results.

• 48 hour service costs AED 420 (AED 370 + AED 50 for Hepatitis B vaccination). You can collect results in 2 working days.

• Urgent service costs AED 520 (AED 470 + AED 50 for Hepatitis B vaccination). You can collect results after 24 hours.

• There is also a 4 hour VIP service costing AED 740 (AED 690 + AED 50) but this is only for Al Safa & Knowledge Village employees and dependents. 

Visa and Emirates ID to be link in Dubai from April 1

Plans to link the national identity card to visas will be enforced in Dubai on schedule on April 1 after it was implemented in all other emirates.

The Emirates National Identity Authority (EIDA), which is carrying out a nation-wide ID project, said applicants would not receive their cards before their residence visas are renewed or issued.

It said those applying for an ID and residence at the same time must first fill an application at an EIDA registration office before they are allowed to have blood test, which is a pre-requisite for have a visa issued or renewed.

“The link-up between the ID and residence visas is now almost complete after it was enforced in all emirates except in Dubai,” EIDA said in a statement carried by the Dubai-based Arabic language daily Emirat Alyoum.

“This link will be implemented in Dubai on April one in coordination with the residence and immigration department in the emirate.”

EIDA said the link-up, once completed, would allow its registration offices at preventive medicine departments to handle at least 22,000 applications a day.

Gratuity should be calculated on basic salary

End-of-service gratuity should be calculated on the basis of the basic salary as per the employment contract signed between the employer and employee, the Ministry of Labour said.

According to the ministry, if the basic salary is not clearly stated in the employment contract, gratuity should be calculated on the basis of the last salary paid to the employee, as quoted by Dubai-based Arabic daily newspaper Emarat Al Youm.

Humaid bin Dimas, Executive Director for Labour Affairs, said “the basic wage in the employment contract should be written with the consent of the employee.”

Bin Dimas said end of service gratuity should be calculated on the basis of gross salary if the employment contract is not clear about basic salary.

The ministry expressed its view in response to demands of employees in private firms to calculate end of service gratuity on the basis of the total, rather than basic, salary.

Bin Dimas said: “When an employee signs an employment contract, he implicitly accepts the amount fixed in the contract as the basis for calculating end-of-service gratuity.”

Employees of private companies requested the Ministry of Labour to pass a law calling for calculating end of service gratuity on the basis of total salary because employers often keep basic salary low to take unfair advantage of the law while paying gratuity.

Some said it would be fair if the basic wage is calculated at 60 per cent of total salary.

Rami, who works in an insurance company with a total monthly salary of Dh7,000 said his basic wage in the employment contract is Dh700.

He said he was forced to sign the contract because there was no other alternative.”

Rami urged the MoL to specify 60 per cent of the total salary as the minimum basic salary, especially as the law requires the employee to work for five years in the same company to get gratuity of one month’s basic salary for each year worked.

Mohammed Wanoos, who works in a contracting company, said the UAE regulations allows the worker to stay an extra month after the end of the employment contract, but asked how he could live for a month when the gratuity is enough for only a few days.

Wanoos urged the Ministry of Labour to calculate the end of service benefits on the basis of total salary or determine the ratio of basic wage to full salary.

He said he got Dh1,500 as end-of-service gratuity after he worked for three years in the same company despite a total salary of about Dh7,000 a month.

Bin Dimas said “the UAE’s Federal Labour Law mentions both basic salary and allowance but does not indicate their proportion to each other.

He added that the MoL asks employers to update employee contracts.

He added that the employment contract is signed with the mutual consent of the employer and employee.

The employee knows before signing the contract details of his salary and end-of-service benefits.

EIDA’s fresh warning for card collection delay

The Emirates National Identity Authority (EIDA) has issued a new warning to applicants who miss the 90-day deadline to collect their national cards, saying the card will be destroyed and holders will be fined Dh300.

EIDA’s director general Ali Al Khoury said those who apply for a new card or renewal of their cards must collect them within three months after they receive the first notification by SMS on their mobile phone, adding that Emirates Post (Empost) normally send six notifications to card holders.

“Cards which are not collected within 90 days from the first notification will be destroyed but that does not mean the applicant’s data will be annulled…they will be retained by EIDA and in this case holders must apply for a replacement,” he told the Sharjah-based Arabic language daily Alkhaleej.

He said a replacement can be issued at registration offices or online by filling a new application for a fee of Dh300.

“We call on all applicants to collect their cards within 90 days from the first notification to avoid having their cards destroyed,” Khoury said.

He said EIDA, which is overseeing a landmark nation-wide ID project, has signed agreement with Empost to deliver cards to all applicants in their respective emirates. “Empost sends six SMS in English and Arabic to the mobile phones of the applicants asking them to come and collect their cards,” he said.

Khoury’s comments follow growing public complaints that cards end up at Empost centres located far from their areas. Others say that a 90-day deadline is not enough as they could be outside the UAE for more than three months.

“Last month, I had to take a day off work to travel nearly an hour outside Abu Dhabi to collect my card…I applied in Abu Dhabi city but Empost informed me my card is in Suweihan, which I have never visited,” Imad Hariri said.

In press remarks last week, EIDA said it is planning to replace the present delivery system with on-the-spot facility that allows holders to receive their renewed cards just after they apply at registration centres.

“Eida has gone a long way in addressing this problem,” Eida Ali Mohammed Al Khoury said after an Authority meeting on Tuesday.

“We are in the process of creating what is termed as decentralised typing centres…four such centres will be set up on a trial basis soon…they will allow applicants to receive their cards within minutes.”

A company cannot increase six-month probation period - UAE Labour Law

More than 7 months ago I worked in a company on a contract for limited period. After completing six months of service my company terminated my contract saying that this termination is within the probation period as per the company and the company has the right to do so because I did not pass the probation period, and they said I am not entitled to end of service or termination compensation because I did not complete one year in service. I have learnt from the company that the probation as per the company system is for eight months, not six months. Also, I was informed that in accordance with the Labour Law the period of six months is the minimum and maybe agreed to increase it according to the company system and interest. Is this true? What is my legal position in this case as I have signed a letter in this regard and agreed on the probation period which is eight months? What about my termination as per the labour law. Is it within the probation period or after, and what is my right in this regard?

Article no37 of the Federal Labour Law No8 of 1980 states the following. “A worker may be engaged on probation for a period not exceeding six months, during which his service may be terminated by the employer without notice or severance pay: provided that a worker shall not be engaged on probation more than once in the service of any employer. Where a worker successfully completes his period of probation and remains in his job, the said period shall be reckoned towards his period of service”. Therefore, based on this article no agreement shall be made to increase the probation period and the company has violated the labour law because they have terminated the questioner’s limited contract after the probation period and the company must compensate the questioner by paying three months full salary plus other end of service rights.

Questions answered by Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants.