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Amnesty seekers must wait for 10 days before going home: GDRFA

Amnesty seekers can buy the tickets only after getting an outpass.

A reminder to all amnesty seekers: Once you get your exit permit or outpass, you have to wait 10 days before you can travel back home, a top official at the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) said.  
This means an applicant who got an outpass yesterday, August 2, can only travel from August 12 and is given at least one month to leave the country.
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Brigadier Khalaf Al Ghaith, GDRFA Assistant Director General of Follow-up Sector of Violators and Foreigners, explained the 10-day waiting period is required to clear a person's name in the system.
He also clarified the confusion on Day 1, where amnesty seekers were required to purchase and present their tickets back home before they can apply for an outpass.
"(The amnesty seeker) can buy a ticket after he/she gets an outpass and has to wait 10 days before he/she can travel," Al Ghaith clarified. 
When asked by Khaleej Times, if there will be some considerations for emergency cases, Al Ghaith replied: "We can take the normal procedure and the amnesty will not apply. The penalty will not be waived and the person has to undergo an eye scan and there will be an immigration ban."
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"So, amnesty seekers who were given an outpass really has to wait 10 days," he added.
Such is the case of Francisco Pacheco, 58, who has not seen his family in the Philippines for eight years.
Pacheco, who purchased a ticket before applying for an outpass on Thursday, said he has to re-schedule his booking for an August 12 flight.
"I bought a ticket for an August 11 flight and I was told I have to rebook it," he told Khaleej Times. "Unfortunately I have no more money for the rebooking fee," added Pacheco, who was not aware of the free ticket from the Philippine Consulate.
angel@khaleejtimes.com