UAE amnesty: Illegals rush to regularise status, avoid overstay fines

[Editor's note: The visa amnesty scheme was originally scheduled to end on October 31. An extension has now been announced. Click here for more details.]

There was a last-minute increase in the number of overstaying foreigners and expats who applied on the last day of the UAE visa amnesty programme on Thursday, October 31. Approved typing centres reportedly had to employ extra staff to deal with the rush.

Noushad Hussain, who manages an approved typing centre, said they have been seeing more than 300 amnesty seekers every day this week. “People waited till the last minute to come,” he said. “At any given time, we have at least 25 to 35 people waiting for their turn right now. We have been working longer hours to make sure that we are able to meet the demand.”

K.L., an Indian expat, waited to hear from the company he had found a job in. “I have been overstaying for three years now,” he said. “Earlier this month, I managed to find a job and last week the company applied for my visa, but it has not got approval yet. They advised me to wait till midday today and if the approval does not come, they told me to get the outpass and leave the country.”

He told Khaleej Times he preferred to leave and come back rather than risk fines. “I think that if I don’t get the outpass today, my overstay fines will be reinstated tomorrow. I don’t want to take that risk. I will leave and then come back when the visa approval comes.”

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Leave and come back

Another expat, who did not wish to be named, said he had waited till the last minute in hopes of getting a job.

“I have been living in the UAE for 10 years,” said the 47-year-old Pakistani expat, noting: “It was in 2022 that I joined a new company as a salesman, but the company closed down. They held my passport and then I got overstay fines.

“So, I couldn’t leave. Ever since the amnesty was announced, I was trying to look for a job. Yesterday, I had an interview but that also didn’t materialise. Now I have no option but to leave. I am hoping to come back and look for a job again,” he added.

Lenient offer

• UAE: No extension of visa amnesty after October 31; stricter measures, deportations to follow