Pakistani passport validity extended from five to 10 years

 Dubai: Pakistani expatriates in the UAE are rejoiced over their government’s decision to extend the validity period of their passports from five to 10 years.

According to new rule, the passports issued after September 15 will be valid for 10 years. Applications will also have the choice to get a bigger 100-page passport.

“It will be a great relief as we don’t have to run to our diplomatic missions to renew passports every now and then and stand in queues for hours,” said Haji Naveed Younus, a Pakistani businessman living in the UAE for the last 35 years. He said the government should also improve facilities at the missions which are unable to cope with heavy rush of people applying for passports and ID cards.“

Mohammad Shahid Bhatti, a businessman in Dubai, also appreciated the new move and urged the government that passport issuance time should also be reduced as currently it takes more than three to four weeks to get a passport. “Passports should be delivered within a week,” he said.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced extension in the validity of passports from five to 10 years.

However, Pakistani mission in the UAE has not so far received any intimation in this regard. “We are waiting for the instructions from the government regarding the new passport policy,” Tariq Iqbal Somoro, Pakistani Consul General in Dubai, told Gulf News. He said the consulate would inform the community about the procedure and revised fee structure if any accordingly.

Malik has also launched an Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore. The IBMS replaced the Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System (PISCES) and is meant to enhance security procedure at the airports in Pakistan.

The IBMS software allows features missing in PISCES such as the integration of biometric data and giving access to visa-issuing authorities. IBMS, initially launched in 2001, is currently operational at Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad, Jinnah International Airport Karachi, Bacha Khan International Airport Peshawar and Torkham Land Route.

Malik said that the system had been developed with the cooperation of Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) through which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) would have an access to NADRA records.

Malik said that IBMS had been designed according to country’s immigration laws and it would help prevent illegal entry, use of counterfeit documents, human smuggling and other frauds.

The minister added that IBMS had been equipped with technologies such as advance fingerprint matching, specialised handling of different categories of travellers and scalability for integration with other national databases.

No Bangladesh visa ban in UAE

Abu Dhabi: This comes after the Bangladeshi Embassy in Abu Dhabi received complaints from its nationals they have not been granted new visas in the UAE.In some cases, they said, even the applications for visit visas and temporary work permits were rejected.
Typing centres across the country also reported problems.

Major General Nasser Al Awadi Al Menhali, Assistant Undersecretary for Naturalisation and Residency, and Ports Affairs at the Ministry of Interior, said there was no ban.He said visas are regularly issued to all nationalities subject to the demand for workforce in the market.
And he explained there are certain restrictions on group visas to skilled and unskilled labourers to ensure their quality and competence irrespective of their nationality.He added: “If a company applies for visa for a large group of skilled and unskilled workers whose qualifications and competence are not satisfactory, that application may not be successful.

“Because if better qualified and competitive workers [who may be from some other nations] are available in the market, the UAE wants the employer to recruit such workers,” he explained.Al Menhali clarified that in such cases the qualification and competence of the workers are considered irrespective of their nationality.

However he revealed that there are certain measures to strike a demographic balance among the three largest communities of workers in the UAE Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.

“We would like to give equal opportunities to these three nationalities who constitute majority of the workforce in the country and that factor is also considered while issuing the work visa.”The official made it clear that such type of restrictions are not applicable to visa for professionals such as managers, engineers, doctors etc. “We issue visa for such categories of people from all nationalities without any restrictions.”

Typing centres, which submit visa applications online on behalf of the applicants, said they started receiving rejections to new residence visa applications of Bangladeshi nationals in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah about two weeks ago and in Dubai since last week.

The number of labourers coming from India has been going down drastically thanks to the increasing opportunities in India.Bangladeshis have been filling that vacuum, they said.

More than 700,000 (seven hundred thousand) Bangladeshis constitute the third largest expatriate community in the UAE.

Six-month ban

A reader from Dubai asks: I am confused about changing my job from the present company. I will complete two and a half years by the end of this month [unlimited contract]. If I get a new job, is the six-month ban applicable on me even after getting an appointment letter from the new employer? What is the fee I'll have to pay to lift my ban? After giving my one month notice, for how many months can the company retain my services? They are saying that they will cancel my visa after getting a substitute.

In case of resignation and termination of the work by the questioner, the Ministry of Labour will automatically impose a six month ban and the appointment letter with the new employer will not be considered before the Ministry of Labour, unless the questioner obtains a No Objection Certificate from the present sponsor for transfer of the sponsorship, as well as after paying the said ministry fees, which may be about Dh5,000.

As for the duration in which the company retains the questioner; after giving the one month notice of resignation, the questioner's relationship with the employer expires by the end of the notice period, and the company has no right to ask the questioner to continue working after such a duration, unless the employee agrees to increase the duration of notice, as per article 118 of UAE Labour Law.

The questioner is not responsible for the substitute that would replace him at work, but we advise the questioner to cooperate with the company in this regard, to enable him to obtain the No Objection Certificate to transfer the sponsorship in return for such cooperation.

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

The rights of an employee regarding emergency leave as per the UAE Labour Law

I have been working in a company for more than two years. Six months back, I had an emergency leave for 20 days. My father was sick and I went to see him. Now I’m applying for annual leave for 30 days and my company refuses to grant my request and they are allowing me to go for 10 days only. According to their explanation I can’t take annual vacation for more than 10 days because I just had an emergency leave for 20 days and that leave was deducted from my annual leave. I want to know what the rights of the employee are regarding emergency leave as per the Labour Law. Please advice.

I would like to clarify to the questioner that as per the Federal Labour Law no. 8 for 1980, there is no emergency leave and the same is subject to the consent of the employer as well as the system applicable in the company. Besides, the employer is not obliged by law to grant such leaves.

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

Traffic offenders not allowed leaving UAE

Dubai Police has said traffic offenders with huge fines will not be allowed to leave the country until they pay their fines.

“She will not face any case, but her vehicle will be in detention and her file will be frozen, and she will not be able to leave the country,” the police said when asked by Emirates 24|7 on what possible action will be taken against the Bangladeshi woman who has accumulated Dh201,140 in fines for 257 traffic violations.

The police, however, clarified that the total amount can be paid in installments.

Colonel Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, Acting Director, General Department, Traffic, Dubai Police, said total traffic fines by 17 erring motorists in the emirate hit a whopping Dh2.9 million, with the list including 80 per cent Emiratis, including three women and five men.

A Syrian woman was second on the list of violators owing the department Dh186,900 for 288 violations, followed by an Egyptian recorded 236 violations - majority of them for speeding - with Dh169,420 in fines.

An Emirati woman in sixth place has a total of Dh134,160 and 218 violations, while an Emirati man accumulated Dh129,210 for 204 violations.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Dubai was planning to introduce a “white points system” involving incentives for drivers who respect traffic rules within its ongoing fight against traffic law abuses.

The novel project will run parallel to the existing black points system enforced by Dubai and all other emirates in line with a federal law intended to curb road accidents and deter reckless motorists.

“Dubai’s traffic police will enforce the new white points system this year. It includes offering incentives for committed drivers and cutting black points.

“It also involves discounts coupons at major shopping outlets, gifts and possibly reduction of fines for those who show respect to traffic rules,” Dubai’s traffic police chief, Major General Mohammed Al Zaffin, had said at the time.

RTA forfeits money for not using Salik for three years in Dubai

According to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), it is a rule and has always been the case, but most motorists are not aware of this. If a commuter with a Salik account does not use Salik for a long time, 36 months to be precise, then he is bound to lose all the money in the account.

Mohammad Ebrahim Al Awadhi, Director ITS, at RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, says people have to use Salik only once in three years to save the money.

“The Salik credit will be forfeited should the user not pass the Salik toll gate over a period of three years. Secondly, as the time period of not passing under the toll gate is about to lapse {which is three years} he is notified through an SMS. Before the lapse of three years, if he passes even once, his credit will not be forfeited and he is again given a time period of three more years,” said Al Awadhi.