New UAE visa charges hit Canadian travellers

Canada's Conservative government is under fire from Liberal Opposition critics on home soil after the UAE Embassy in Ottawa announced new visa charges of up to C$1,000 (Dh3,660) for Canadian visitors to the UAE.

Formerly free for Canadians, UAE visas must now be paid and applied for in writing to the UAE Embassy in Ottawa two weeks in advance of entering the UAE.The new paid visas are mandatory effective January 2.

 

The new visa regulations were first announced in early November, as Canadian troops were vacating Camp Mirage.

Dubai expelled hundreds of Canadian troops from a semi-secret military base on its soil earlier this fall. The Canadian military had enjoyed rent-free access to Camp Mirage for the past nine years. The base served as a key transit point for troops shuttling to and from Afghanistan. Relocating to a new base may cost more than $300 million.

 At the time the U.A.E.'s ambassador to Canada, Mohamed Abdulla Al Ghafli, told the Canadian Press that the decision to institute visa fees was "based on a policy of reciprocity." Weeks later, the U.A.E.'s economic minister, Sultan Al Mansouri, said that Canada's relationship with his country had been "destroyed" by the airline dispute and by remarks made by Canadian officials.

"There have been some statements made from the Canadian side, which were sometimes very fiery statements," Al Mansouri was quoted as saying in Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper. "This is not the way relationships between two countries are handled." In late November, then transport minister John Baird defended how Ottawa handled the landing-rights negotiations, arguing that "literally tens of thousands of jobs" were at risk at home.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is being accused of damaging formerly strong ties with an important Middle East ally by refusing additional landing rights for the UAE's two major airlines, Emirates and Etihad.The airlines asked for more than the current six flights a week to Canada but were rejected.In a previous statement, Abdullah Al Gafi, UAE Ambassador to Canada, said failure to reach a new agreement "undoubtedly affects the bilateral statement".

Canadians travel to United Arab Emirates to pay stiff visa fees from January 2, 2011

Canadians wishing to travel to the United Arab Emirates will have to pay stiff visa fees of up to C$1,000, C$250 for a 30-day visa,C $500 for a three-month visa and a whoppingC $1,000 for a six-month, multiple-entry visa . Canada had been one of more than 30 countries whose citizens could travel to the U.A.E. on a free one-month visa. The new fees, which are unusually high by international standards, appear to represent the latest episode in a diplomatic row over landing rights for U.A.E.-based airlines in Canada. The new paid visas are mandatory effective January 2.

"The complete visa application needs to be sent to the UAE Embassy 15 working days before the departure date," the embassy said in its requirements, posted on Tuesday.

The UAE Embassy noted that a "short-term visa" will cost C$250 and would be valid for 30 days, a long-term visa for three months would cost C$500 and a six-month multiple-entry visa will set travelers back C$1,000.
Requiring an approved UAE visa in advance of arrival is a radical departure from the time when Canadians were granted visas upon arrival at Dubai and Abu Dhabi international airports.The new rules won't necessarily affect a large portion of the roughly 25,000 Canadians who live and work in the UAE because many already possess residence permits.

Official pardon for workers with six-month visa ban in UAE from January 1st 2011

Workers will be issued new work permits from January even if they have not served the full six-month ban, Acting Director-General at the Ministry

Expatriate workers who have received a six-month ban on leaving their jobs recently will be able to obtain new work permits from January 1, if they have completed two years with their former employers, a senior official from the Ministry of Labour said.

Humaid Bin Deemas, Acting Director-General at the Ministry, said these workers will be issued new work permits from January even if they have not served the full six-month ban.

“Following the implementation of the new rules by the Ministry of Labour, expatriate workers who have completed two years with their employers can change jobs without serving the ban,” Bin Deemas told Sharjah Radio.

He said sponsors cannot force employees to continue to work for them if the workers do not wish to do so. “If workers have quit before the completion of two years then they will not be issued labour cards until the two-year period is over,” Bin Deemas said.

The official said if a worker, who has cancelled his residence visa, returns to the UAE on a visit visa, he will not get a work permit before the expiry of the two-year period.

Bin Deemas said the relationship between a sponsor and a worker will end with the expiry of the labour card, which is limited to two years. “Skilled and unskilled workers who end their contracts legally will get a labour permit,” he said.

National ID card deadline In UAE extended to June 30, 2011

Emirates ID card deadline extended, Dr Ali Al Khoury, Director-General of Eida, has urged white-collared expats to not wait until their visa renewal, cautioning that the government will soon link the ID card with a string of services in the country, which may not be accessible without the ID.

Unlike blue-collared workers, professionals have to perform many transactions with the government and without an ID card, they will not be able to access many services, Al Khoury has been quoted as saying by Gulf News. "So they should not delay the registration," he added. The extension in the deadline will nevertheless bring relief to applicants, some of whom were seen last week camping outside ID and typing centers in a last-ditch effort to meet the December 31 deadline.

As reported by this website earlier, the authorities had announced that residents who would not have met the National ID card deadline of December 31, 2010, were not to be denied any government services as no penalties were to be imposed.

Eida announced yesterday that 1.5 million people had registered for the ID in 2010, adding that it would do its utmost to double these numbers in the upcoming period as per the new registration plan and the relevant initiatives. Emiratis have an additional six months to register for their identity cards following an extension of the original December 31 deadline.

The Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) said that Emiratis now have until June 30 to register for their ID cards. Expatriates also do not have to rush for it to register; whenever they apply for or renew a residency visa, the registration for the ID card will take place simultaneously.

Residents can apply for their cards at any of the 25 registrations centers countrywide that are attached to or near to the preventative medicine centers that conduct medical checkups as part of the visa application process.

According to a statement by EIDA, this is part of their 2010-2013 strategy to link visa issuance and renewal with ID card registration across the UAE. This is currently the case in Umm al Quwain only.EIDA said that more than 1.5 million people registered for their national ID cards in 2010.

One-year ban for breach of Limited contract- Ministry of Labour UAE

The new regulations concerning the abolition of the six-month work ban and the removal of the need for a no-objection certificate created confusion and misunderstanding among the employees and has also resulted in workers in some sectors resigning from their jobs. The Ministry of Labour  clarified very clearly that “Workers who are contracted on fixed-term contracts cannot breach the contract and resign on grounds that they have completed a period of two years. If those workers are called to cancel their labour cards they will be subjected to a one-year ban according to terms of the contract. But if the contract is of an indefinite duration, and two years have been completed with the sponsor, they have the right to change their job without objection.”The Ministry of Labour, on Friday, issued regulations allowing workers who finish their contracts to obtain new work permits without undergoing the six-month work ban, and allowing them to move to other firms without the employer's approval from January 1, 2011.

A worker with an expired contract can obtain a new work permit and shift to another employer without the passing of the currently legitimate six-month period and consent of his sponsor, according to the new resolution issued by the Minister of Labour Saqr Gobash.

The new regulations on conditions and criteria of issuing new work permit for a worker after the expiry of his service contract and transfer of sponsorship will take effect as of January 1, 2011 in implementation of the cabinet resolution No 25 of 2010 regarding internal work permit at the Ministry of Labour.

Once operational, the new regulations will replace the current formalities of transfer of sponsorship for expatriate workers.

The resolution says that the new employment permit will only be granted to the worker after the end of his work relationship with his employer without consideration of the legitimate six month period which is usually calculated after the cancellation of the worker's labour card.