Major Shift in Residence Visa Renewal in U.A.E , All residents to be tested for TB

 

New Cabinet resolution on infectious and communicable diseases suggests a major shift in the renewal of residence visas of those found having old tuberculosis (TB) scars or drug-resistant TB

 

While the law is unchanged for those seeking new residence visas — applications of those testing positive for HIV, Hepatitis A, B and C or TB are immediately rejected — the new resolution seeks to provide screening and mandatory vaccinations for Hepatitis B and C to a large pool of workers in special categories.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, issued the Cabinet resolution No 5 of 2016 amending several provisions on the medical examination system for arrivals to the UAE for work or residence, Arabic newspaper Al Bayan reported on Thursday.

The resolution states that all residents will have to undergo TB screening while renewing their residence visas. Those found with scars or active TB or found having drug-resistant TB will be issued with a conditional fitness certificate where they will get one year visa.

They will then have to undergo treatment within the UAE that will include follow ups at preventive health centres. Residents failing to comply with the treatment protocol for TB will be considered unfit.
Experts welcome move

Welcoming the new resolution, the health care fraternity yesterday said the decision not only gives old TB patients a chance to renew their visa subject to certain conditions, but also assures a better outcome in the management of Hepatitis B and C by aiming to vaccinate special categories of workers who are most susceptible to contracting this disease.
Hepatitis vaccination

The viral hepatitis vaccination for Hepatitis B and C has been already implemented for hospital staff, food handlers and  sanitation workers.

The health community is happy that a larger group of people in special categories such as domestic labourers and nannies have been included.

“By insisting on vaccinating even those who test negative for Hepatitis B and C the prevalence of these infections will fall drastically and this will work wonders for collective community and public health.

“There are many regions in the world where Hepatitis B and C are rampant and people coming from these regions with exposure to the virus will be get stronger immunity as they are likely to go on domestic visits,” said another private doctor on condition of anonymity.

Cost of treatment

However, it is not clear who will cover the cost of treatment for TB, which is quite prohibitive. One-year uninterrupted treatment amounts to Dh48,000 annually, a doctor said.

“Insurance companies do not cover minor infectious diseases such as chicken pox, so there is no question they will cover treatment of tuberculosis.

“Any one from the Indian sub-continent testing positive for TB can expect a far more reasonable treatment back home. However, with the law stipulating three visits to preventive health centres and registering for treatment here will mean the individual will have to shell out at least Dh4000 per month for treatment which is going to be very prohibitive for most,” a doctor said.

The new resolution amends cabinet resolution No 7 of 2008.

•      HIV/Aids: Residence visa will not be granted or renewed in case the result is positive.
•     Viral hepatitis: Tests restricted to those coming to work in the UAE for the first time. Nannies, housekeepers, domestic workers and supervisors at nurseries and kindergartens will be tested for Hepatitis B during visa renewal too.
•     Those working in salons, beauty centres, health clubs and sanitation workers will be subjected to tests for viral Hepatitis B and C.
•     Visas will not be granted or renewed for positive cases unless they change the purpose of request for residence visa.
•     All negative cases of new visa applicants from the categories above will be vaccinated for the disease in three doses and given a certificate to prove they have received the vaccine.
•     Negative cases need to produce certificate of vaccination when renewing their residence visa.
•     Tuberculosis: Examination is limited to lung tuberculosis.
•     New applicants with old pulmonary or active TB are deemed unfit and not granted residence visa.
•     Residents renewing their residence visa found having old or active pulmonary TB will be deemed medically fit, but will be subjected to a follow-up by the department of preventive medicine or equivalent government health bodies. In such cases, a health fitness certificate stating ‘Subject to treatment’  will be issued. This will give a one-year residence visa to the applicant for the purpose of treatment. In the event of non-compliance, or if the person misses three consecutive visits, he will be considered unfit

    In cases of TB with treatment-resistant bacteria, the infected person will be subjected to treatment inside the country to be cured and then, if deemed fit, will have residency renewed.

Post on social media without consent, get jail in U.A.E

People posting pictures of others on social media networks without their permission could be jailed for six months and fined up to Dh500,000 under the UAE's IT law.

Many social media users are not aware of such a law, says a senior Dubai Police officer.

"Some people do not know that if they photograph a person and post the picture on social networks or other electronic devices, it becomes a punishable crime according to the UAE law,” Major General Mohammed Al Shareef, Assistant Police Commander for Administration said, after launching a social media awareness campaign.

"This crime involves a jail term of six months and a fine of Dh150,000-500,000. We need the public to know that this is a big crime in the UAE because some people do it for fun without knowing they will be prosecuted.”

Another officer warned parents against allowing children to have their own social media account as they could be victims of blackmail and other threats.

“They should control their children because letting them have their own social network account could make them easy prey to blackmail and other crime,” said Mohammed Abdullah, Director, Decision Support Centre, Dubai Police.

He said many countries enforce certain protocols, curbing the use of social media by children till a specific age in order to protect them from possible threats.

The UAE’s official retirement age increase by one year from February 2016

The retirement age for UAE nationals, which was 48 years, will be raised by one additional year, making it 49  with effect from February 28, 2016.“This increase is in accordance with Federal Law No. 7 of 2007, which clearly conveys the UAE Government's intention to bring about a gradual rise in the retirement age of UAE nationals,” said Liddington.“However, in order to be eligible to receive their full pension benefit, Emirati employees must also have accrued at least 20 years’ service prior to the date of their retirement,” he told.

He noted that the official retirement age for UAE nationals is set to go up further next year. “It is likely that there will be a similar increase (to a retirement age of 50) in 2017 although there has not yet been any official announcement in this regard,” he said.

The UAE’s General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) stresses that it is important to take the age requirement into account if employees wish to resign and retire.

There is a difference between pension eligibility and the date of pension disbursement.

“If the employee resigns after completing the service duration that makes him/her eligible for retirement, i.e., 20 years, he/she will still not be entitled to the pension unless reached 50 years of age,” says the GPSSA.

This, it said, is according to the amendment of the Law in 2007 which stipulates that this condition applies to the persons who have reached 40 upon the date of implementation of the amendment (February 28, 2007), and that “the age shall be increased year by year until reaching the age of 50.”

It adds: “Accordingly, the entitlement to the pension upon resignation requires that the insured had reached 48 years of age and that his/her service period is not less than 20 years, taking into account that, starting from 28th of February, 2016, the age requirements for pension entitlement will become 49 years of age combined with 20 service period.”

The Hadef expert highlighted that the gradual increase in retirement age underlines the government’s objective to increase the number of UAE nationals in the private sector workforce.

“The impending change is consistent with the UAE Government’s stated intention to increase the number of Emiratis working in the private sector and also to reduce the population’s dependency on the State by encouraging people to remain in work for longer,” said Liddington.

“Similar increases have been seen in recent years in other jurisdictions (e.g., the United Kingdom), where retirement age was reviewed as a result of increases to the average life expectancy and the economic benefits associated with delaying retirement,” he said.

Meanwhile, the retirement age for expats in the UAE is 60 years even as the UAE’s Ministry of Labour does accept requests for work-permits of individuals over the age of 60 years, up to the age of 65 years.

Expat employees, however, are not eligible for UAE pension, but they are paid gratuity, an end-of-service pay out

Transfer of Residence visa for Employees from a private sector to another private sector in U.A.E

This involves procedures of Naturalization and Residency Administration/Dubai to transfer the sponsorship of employees from a company to another by the approval of the ministry of labor.

Applicant:Sponsor, Agent

Documents Required

1. Prepaid Application of Issuing and transferring residence visa.
2. Photographs of the sponsored
3. The medical test in original or online.
4. Sponsorship transfer application approved by (entry permits dept.) with fees paid.
5. Copy of the company valid trade license.
6. Copy of the company valid establishment card.

Fees Required

Classifying the Fees Required:

1-(870) AED fees of issuing a residence visa with sponsorship transfer paid through E-Form and broken down as follows :

(500 )AED local sponsorship transfer fees.

(100) AED federal fees for issuing residence visa ( maximum 3 years)

(50) AED local fees.

(10) AED Datel services fees

(10) AED knowledge Dirham.

2-(130) AED urgent application fees ( optional ) to be broken down as follows:

(100) AED local fees.

(10) AED administrative fees.

(10) AED bank charges.

(10) AED Knowledge Dirham.

3-(20) AED Zajil delivery service for ordinary applications (optional) .

The service shall be offered at the following sections to the building employees in charge only:

1- General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs-Dubai General Headquarters Branch -Dubai Police.

2-. General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs-Dubai Municipality Clinic Branch.

3- General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs-Dubai -  Dubai Media City Branch.

4- General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs-Dubai- Dubai Financial Center Branch.

5- General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs-Dubai - Rashid Hospital Branch.

 Submission Places

1. General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs-Dubai, 
2. Dubai Industrial City Branch,
3.  Dnata Section-Sheikh Zayed Road,
4.  Um Suqaim Section, 
5. Ladies Section – Residence Department, 
6. Al Arabi Center Section, 
7. Medical Fitness Section, 
8. Dubai Airport Free Zone Area Section, 
9. Bin Sougat Center Section,
10.  Jebel Ali Section,
11.  Hatta Section, 
12. Hayatt Regency Section, 
13. Dnata- Deira Section, 
14. His Highness Dubai Ruler’s Court Section, 
15. Emirate Airlines Section, 
16. Municipality Clinic Section,
17.  Al-Safa Clinic Section,
18.  Dubai Technology and Media City Section, 
19. Dubai International Financial Center Section,
20.  Rashid Hospital Section.

Employment ban for Two years now stricter in Oman

Muscat: If you leave your job and leave Oman, you won’t be coming back to work for two years ... even if you have a No Objection Certificate (NOC).That was the stark message from a top Royal Oman Police (ROP) official .

According to the official, it now makes no difference whether employees complete their contract or not, they will be simply denied clearance to work inside Oman for the two-year period regardless of service or possession of an NOC from their ex-employer.“The immigration department has stressed that the NOC letter is not valid anymore in this matter. Any expatriate worker who leaves Oman has to spend two years abroad before joining another company in Oman,” a top official at ROP told Times of Oman.

“However, if he has plans to join the same employer, he can do it without waiting for two years,” the official added.

According to the official, the decision was taken based on Article 11 of the Immigration Code, which states that an expatriate worker who leaves Oman has to spend two years abroad before returning to Oman.Said bin Naser Al Sadi, advisor to the Minister of Manpower, said the move was outside of the ministry's remit.

“This decision was taken by the ROP and has nothing to do with the Ministry of Manpower,” said Al Sadi. “We can talk about the work rule but for entrance and exit from the country comes under the ROP and we can’t interfere,” he added.

It means that the only way an expat employee can join a new company is if he stays within Oman and his previous employer is prepared to lose the clearance from his quota of expat staff by granting an NOC.

Ras Al Khaimah cancelled All expired RAK economic licences

Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, has issued a resolution cancelling all economic licences issued by the Ras Al Khaimah Department of Economic Development (DED) which have expired.

Article 1 of Resolution No. 5 of 2016 states that all licences that were inactive in the years up to 2004 will be cancelled.

Article 2 states that all licences, which expired between 2005-2012, will be revoked administratively if they are not involved in legal cases being handled by courts, and if they have no liabilities to the General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs and the Ministry of Labour.

It exempts all licenses that expired in the years up to 2015 from all late licensing penalties and arrears for the Municipality of Ras Al Khaimah only if they are renewed between February 1 and April 30.

The resolution is effective immediately and will be published in the official Gazette.