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Sponsor can help regularise status

DUBAI — A sponsor is a must for those amnesty seekers who wish to regularise their status in the UAE, according to Humaid bin Demas, Assistant Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Labour.

“If the amnesty- seeker is on an expired visit visa he should cancel it at the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department and acquire a work permit at the MoL through his prospective sponsor,” he told Khaleej Times while clarifying various aspects of the Amnesty campaign.

Bin Demas said, “If the amnesty seeker has been declared an absconder he can either return to his sponsor if the latter agrees to take him back or find a new sponsor. The first and foremost thing is that the absconding report has to be withdrawn and for that purpose the labourer has to submit an application for removal of absconding report. That can be done at one of the typing offices dealing with the MoL in Dubai. The application for the withdrawal of the absconding report must be signed by the ex- sponsor. If the ministry does not receive any request for the withdrawal of absconding reports during the amnesty period, a ban will be imposed on the labourer after the expiry of the deadline.”

He said, “Once the absconding report is withdrawn, the process of transfer of sponsorship can start with the payment of the required fees to be paid by the new sponsor. This does not take more than a few days when all the labourer’s documents are available along with a non-objection letter from ex-sponsor.”

Bin Demas said that the workers applying for transfer of sponsorship under the amnesty are exempted from the following conditions:

1 — The labourer has a valid labour card and residency;

2 — The period required for transfer of sponsorship; and

3 — The number of times the sponsorship is transferred.

“Under the amnesty, all applications of transfer of sponsorship shall be exempted from the fees imposed due to a delay or non- renewal of labour card, “ he said.

As some sponsoring companies sometimes exploit the amnesty- seekers and try to pass on the expenses of transfer of sponsorship to the workers, Bin Demas warned that such practice would not be tolerated. “The ministry will slap the new sponsor with a Dh10,000 fine and a ban on the company’s activities for six months if the labourer brings a proof that he himself has paid for the transfer of sponsorship to MoL, ” he said.

“Many facilities have been given to illegals including exemptions from fees to eliminate the obstacles that may prevent the illegal labourers from regularising their status, “ Bin Demas pointed out.

“I call on the employers who have pending cases of labourers to comply with the government decision by adjusting their labourers’ status through cancellation of work permits or transfer of sponsorship. I also call on labourers who don’t work for their sponsors to approach the ministry to regularise their status,” he concluded.