Criteria for obtaining a health card in Dubai

In order to obtain a residency visa and labour card, all expatriates are required to undergo a medical and blood test. Employers usually arrange for all the necessary paperwork.

If you are not covered by a company or private medical insurance, it is advisable to apply for a health card which entitles residents to low cost medical treatment at public hospitals and clinics. An application form can be collected from any public hospital then submitted (typed in Arabic), along with the correct documents to your local Health Care Center. The health card is valid for one year and can be renewed online.

Documents required:

Passport copy
Covering letter from sponsor
Visa application copy
2 passport size photographs
Completed application form
Fees
Citizens (card valid for 4 years)0-9 Years - AED 2510-17 Years - AED 5018 Years and Above - AED 100
Non Citizens(card valid for 1 year) 0-9 Years - AED 100 10-17 Years - AED 200 17 Years and Above - AED 300
plus AED 200/- for medical examination
For more information, please visit the Department of Health and Medical Services

Expats face swine flu ban after holidays abroad - Healthcare - ArabianBusiness.com

Expats face swine flu ban after holidays abroad - Healthcare - ArabianBusiness.com: "Expats face swine flu ban after holidays abroad"
Expatriates in the UAE on holiday abroad will have to produce a medical certificate proving they are not infected with swine flu before returning to the country, according to a report on Tuesday.From August, any person with swine flu symptoms without the certificate would be refused entry to the UAE , said a source from the National Committee for Combating Swine Flu.

“Accordingly, any company or establishment will have the right to cancel sponsorship if the worker conceals an infection intentionally," the unnamed source was quoted as saying in a report by UAE daily Gulf News.The step was part of strict measures needed to contain the H1N1 virus, the source added.Quarantining people infected with the virus and not allowing them to come into contact with others in public locations such as markets, malls, cinemas and worship areas was vital to curbing the spread of the virus, the source said.The National Committee for Combating Swine Flu is a government organisation set up to fight the spread of the virus.

Dual residency backed by GCC immigration chiefs

Moves to introduce dual residency for professional expatriates living in the GCC have been officially backed by the Gulf’s immigration chiefs, at a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The reccomendation will now be sent to each government and if approved would see all expatriates with “first degrees”, such as doctors, engineers, businessmen and lawyers, being free to live and work in all six Gulf states without having to gain new residency permits. This would make it easier for companies to deploy staff to different offices in the region, agreed delegates at the 24th meeting of the GCC director generals of naturalisation and residency departments.

Acting director general of the UAE's Ministry of Interior Naturalisation and Residency Department said he strongly supported the move in an interview with UAE daily Khaleej Times.Brigadier Nassir Al Awadi Al Menhali told the newspaper the UAE was already studying how to implement the system."The UAE supports all the ways to facilitate the expatriates and nationals movement among the GCC countries," Al Menhali said.However, it would be up to each country to set up agreements with other Gulf states to establilsh double residency visas, he added."The GCC director-generals agreed that the GCC residents can enter as usual under the current laws, while each country has the right to approve the mutual residency with the other countries, according to the naturalisation and residency laws and regulations," he explained.GCC residents looking for new jobs would also be allowed to enter other Gulf states on visit visas, before securing employment, he said. "We allow the GCC residents to enter the country on visit visa(s) in accordance to the naturalisation and residency law, and in case of finding a job they can apply to get the residency." Roll-out across the GCC of the e-link immigration system set up between the UAE and Oman was also in the process of being finalised, said Colonel Ahmed Fahd Bu Hindi, deputy secretary general of security affairs at the General Secretariat of GCC.

UAE Labour Law - Gratuity Calculation

As per Article (132) of the UAE Federal Labour Law, and in respect to the end-of-service gratuity we quote the following: A worker who has completed a period of one or more years of continuous service shall be entitled to severance pay on the termination of his employment. The days of absence from work without pay shall not be included in calculating the period of service. The severance pay shall be calculated as follows: 21 days' remuneration for each year of the first five years of service. Thirty days' remuneration for each additional year of service provided that the aggregate amount of severance pay shall not exceed two years' remuneration.

UAE work visas- the grace period for cancelled visa may be extended

Individuals whose work visas have been cancelled, following redundancy, may soon be able to stay in the UAE for a longer period of time to find work, according to a report in Emirates Business.At present, UAE labour and immigration laws require expats who have lost their jobs, to find work within one month - or leave.The newspaper quoted Hani Rashid Al Hamli, Dubai Economic Council (DEC) Secretary-General, who said Dubai, along with the federal government, is "working on" stretching the grace period for holders of cancelled visas. The length of the likely extension wasn’t given.

The report added that the new policy, which may be announced in the first half of this year, is expected to address the potential cases of job cuts due to the financial crisis. "This is one of the top and urgent issues that we are tackling at the Dubai branch and at the federal level - to have a longer (grace) period. They are working on that, I can assure you of that," Al Hamli told the newspaper. Al Hamli, when asked whether the new policy would take affect in the second half of the year, indicated it would be earlier than that, perhaps in one month or two months, although he couldn’t go into specifics due to the government having to upgrade the immigration laws, which will take a measure of time