You can sponsor housemaid only if you have a maid's room

Adnan Al Hamady of Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department, confirmed that two attested certificates are needed to sponsor anyone on visa to UAE - the first is a rent contract attested by the Dubai Municipality or Ajman Municipality or Sharjah Municipality, depending on where you reside.

The rent contract must explain how many rooms are there and if there is a room for the housemaid or not, if applying for a housemaid visa.

The DNRD has details of sponsor's family, so it can determine the number of people who live in the house against the information on the number of rooms provided in the tenancy contract, he added.

The second paper needed as a sponsor is the water and electricity bill attested by the provider from the same emirate where the resident lives.

Hamad Hassan, Manager of the DNRD Director-General's office, told Emirates24|7 that if anyone wants to sponsor for visit or transit visa, then they
have to provide a copy of their passport with Visa page and certificate of salary and the attested rent contract and utility bills.

The same is the requirement for bringiing in house help such as houemaids, gardeners, drivers etc., he added.

A typing office representative said a photocopy of sponsor's and visitor's passports are also needed, one passport size photograph of the visitor and
Labour contract of the sponsor are also needed, for visit visas.

For housemaids, same is the requirement, plus the rent and utility bills. For one month's visit, the visa fee is Dh720. For three months, it is
Dh1,270.

The sponsor also has to pay a guarantee of Dh2,000, which is refundable after vistor has gone from the UAE.

For housemaid, work visa costs Dh270 and Dh2,000 guarantee after housemaid's visa is cancelled. When housemaid comes here, sposnor has to pay a fee of Dh5,000. Housemaid visas have a renewable validity of one year.

Employee six months out of country for Labour Card cancellation

UAE employees who stay outside the Emirates for more than six months can have their labour cards cancelled. This was revealed at the weekly labour ministry meeting, according to 'Al Ittihad' newspaper. Companies must submit proof of absence along with documents of due settlement. The ministry officials refused to accept an employer's request to cancel an Arab's labour card who has been outside the country for only five months.

The company was asked to wait for another month and then submit the proof of the worker’s absence to the department of naturalisation and residency along with  documents to prove settlement of all his dues. Only then can the employer apply  for cancellation of the worker's labour card.

Amending Labour Contract

Addressing another case, ministry officials clarified that companies can amend  labour contracts - change names of professions or salaries - only in the presence of the  employees concerned. Else it will be considered a violation of labour rights.

Temporary work permit

Issuance of temporary work permits would depend on the type of labour dispute and  would be considered by the ministry only once the case has been referred to the  labour court. Once the terms and conditions as stipulated by the labour laws are adhered to, the ministry reserves the right to issue temporary work permits without the approval of employers. Similarly, the worker in dispute, need not necessarily have a residence visa provided it is proved that the case has been  referred from the labour court.

Job transfer

Workers under three skill levels can end their contract without an agreement with  the employer even before completing two years. They include employees who have a  bachelor's degree and earns a minimum Dh12,000; or diploma holders with Dh7,000  monthly salary; and those who possess secondary school certificate earning  Dh5,000.

Meanwhile, officials approved a request of a company to hire as director a British  who has no university degree but holds a certificate from a institute which he  attended for three years after high school.

Explaining its decision, the labour committee, including Khalil Khouri, Director  of work permits, and Saleh Al Jabri, Director of the Unit of facilities in Abu  Dhabi, said in this case the employee has 10 years’ experience in the same job at  the headquarters of the company in his country.

UAE plans to provide multiple entry visa for cruise tourists

The United Arab Emirates may provide multiple entry visa for cruise tourists from September, sources disclosed. The issue was under discussion for almost three years.

“It is finally expected to be in place by September,” a senior official of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) disclosed.

“We have reemphasized the importance of having implemented a multiple entry UAE visa for the cruise tourists to the highest level and it is under way. Hopefully, we will have a positive feedback before the next cruise season commencing in October this year,” Hamad bin Mejren, DTCM Executive Director of Business Tourism, said at a press conference recently.

The UAE has the most modern and the largest cruise facility in the GCC, spanning over a 12,000 sq m with a dedicated pier length of 2000 meters with the capacity to accommodate five to six cruise ships simultaneously.

The current visa process imposes financial burden as well as a lot of documentation procedures for the tourists of nationalities who are not on the list of countries whose citizens get visa on arrival. The multiple entry visas will help in removing such obstacles and will create a wider marketing perspective to bring tourists from key source markets such as Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil and other emerging markets.

Dubai Cruise Terminals, managed and operated by DTCM for the government of Dubai, catered to 396,500 cruise tourist who arrived from 108 ship calls in 2011. This year, Dubai is expected to see 420, 000 cruise tourists to the emirate, giving a big push to the tourism growth and the economy. The projections for 2013 are 125 cruise ships and 450,000 passengers and in 2014 the number of cruise ships and passengers will be 135 and 475,000, respectively. In 2015, this number will go up to 145 cruise ships and 500,000 passengers.

UAE Labour ministry contract supersedes all other documents

The Ministry of Labour contract takes precedence over all agreements between employer and employee and is the only document that is recognised by the authorities, the ministry has warned.

A senior labour ministry official told Gulf News any contract between the employer and the employee other than the labour contract will not be taken into consideration.

The warning comes after some employees have complained that they are being deprived of their rights as laid down in the labour ministry's contract.

A group of insurance specialists have alleged that their company is cheating employees by forcing them to sign a letter of intent and depriving them of rights guaranteed by the labour ministry's contract, including basic pay and gratuity.

Paying back commission

The employees who work for Nexus Insurance Brokers told Gulf News that the company was unwilling to accept resignation letters unless the staff hand over all commissions they earned last year.

Documents obtained by Gulf News show the employees have a limited labour contract under which they are given a basic salary of Dh0.001 and Dh6,000 for accommodation, transportation and other allowances.

The letter of intent, which the insurance specialists were forced to sign, says employees were issued a labour contract because it is a requirement of the UAE law. The principal purpose of the labour contract will be to "sponsor employees' activities in the UAE and does not constitute in part or full their contract with Nexus".

"All benefits mentioned in the labour contract issued by the labour department and any other benefit such as accommodation, transportation, leave, air ticket, leave salary, entertainment, gratuity and other benefits are in fact included in commission, and may be stated separately in the labour contract only for the purpose of enabling you to sponsor your family and domestic help in the UAE," the letter of intent says.

R.J., an employee, said they were forced to sign an undertaking that if the company was required by law and the labour contract to pay a certain amount to them, the employees must repay the company commission and collection fees. He alleged that the company does not accept resignations till employees pay back what they have earned in the form of commissions in their last year at work.

"Unless we give them the last year's earnings, they will not cancel our visas," B.F., a former employee, said. "When I resigned, the company handed me a letter that said my resignation would be accepted, but I must first pay a cheque amounting to my last year's earnings. Only then would they give me a release letter."

Employer reaction

Hussain Ayyash, legal and human resources director at Nexus Insurance Brokers, told Gulf News that all the letters of intent are legal and issued to protect the company's rights. "Our employees work on commissions and they earn a huge amount of money. As the employees work on commissions, they have no labour rights. We issue employees a labour contract as a formality as we have to issue it. The labour contract contains certain allowances, which helps employees sponsor their families. But we do not work according to the labour contract. For us, it does not exist."

He said he had filed a complaint at the labour ministry against some employees who had recently resigned and joined competing firms. "We also have to take back commissions they earned in the last year of work with us," Ayyash said.

Gulf News has learnt that the labour court recently ordered Nexus Insurance Brokers to pay Dh20,000 as end of service benefits to a British consultant who resigned and complained against the company to the labour ministry.

Mohammad Bin Dakhin, Director of Governmental Communication at the labour ministry, told Gulf News that any agreement between the employer and the employee other than the labour contract would not be taken into consideration. "In case of dispute between the employer and the employee, the ministry will only consider the ministry's contract," he said.

Bin Dakhin said a letter of intent or internal contracts between the employer and employee are not accepted. "It is illegal to consider that the labour contract has been issued only to allow employees to sponsor their families. Denying workers the rights mentioned in the labour contract is illegal," he said. Bin Dakhin said that any contract between the employer and employee not signed and approved by the labour ministry is not a legal document.

Show cause Notices Issued Against 3 Ayurvedic Companies in Kerala

Three Ayurvedic companies that assure miraculous remedies are now under the scanner of Kerala government. Referring the claims made by these companies as ‘dubious’, the government has seized products that are worth almost Rs 2 crore. The companies could even lose their licenses for alleged violation of Drugs and Cosmetics Act & Magic Remedies Act.

Among the companies that are under scanner are Dhathri Ayurveda Pvt Ltd and Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Medicines Pvt Ltd, against whom show cause notices have been issued, for misleading claims under section 33 E of the Drugs and Cosmetics act & section 4 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954 for objectionable ads. The companies are liable to face a 3 year punishment, along with fine.

“These companies are putting many claims on the labels to attract consumers. For example, when the oil is only to treat skin diseases, they claim it is for whitening and stretch mark removal. It’s misleading. So under D&C Act we can proceed against them and cancel the licences of the products,” said CS Satheesh Kumar, Drugs Controller official. According to him, the big sharks whose licences are soon to be lost. The enforcement officials have conducted inspections at the manufacturing premises of Indulekha in Thalasseri and Kannur and of Dhatri in Moovattupuzha and Ernakulam. Steps are on to cancel their licences as per the law, said the DC.

The Kerala Drugs Control Department has also issued a warning to celebrities against the endorsement of these products as they are also liable to be prosecuted legally. The move comes following reception of complaints, which include those from various committees of state assembly. The department has also claimed that the specified companies have not submitted  any document proving their claims.The team of enforcement officials from various districts conducted operations in the depots of wholesalers and manufacturing premises in different places and the total value of the seized products is Rs.5,211,770. The manufacturing companies who were found violating the provisions of the Drugs & Magic Remedies Objectionable Act are Dhathri Ayurveda Pvt Ltd, Kochi, Cochin Ayurvedic Centre (Indulekha), Kochi and Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Medicines Pvt Ltd, Koothattukulam, said C S Satheeshkumar, Drugs Controller, Kerala.