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UAE amnesty: Offered residency visa for Dh5,000? It's a scam, warn experts
The actual process of obtaining a residency visa is more complex and costlier
As the UAE's two-month amnesty programme begins on Sunday, September 1, providing illegal residents and those overstaying on a visit visa a chance to regularise their status or return to their home country without penalties, a new threat has emerged. Scammers are preying on vulnerable expats with fraudulent offers of residency visas at suspiciously low prices which have raised alarms.
Khaleej Times spoke to a few overstaying expats in Jebel Ali and Sonapur and they said that they have been approached by people with promises of securing residency visas for as little as Dh5,000 — well below the standard costs.
Sadiq (name changed), a 35-year-old Pakistani national who wished to remain anonymous as he is currently overstaying in the UAE, shared his encounter with one such scammer. “I was approached by a man who promised to get me a residency visa for just Dh5,000. It seemed too good to be true, and when I asked for more details about the company and what position they are offering, he became evasive,” said Sadiq.
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“I was told by the typing centre executive that if I managed to secure a job after clearing my status, I could continue to reside in the country. This scammer approached as I exited the typing centre and initiated a conversation by offering me tea,” said Sadiq.
Sadiq is one among many overstayers who have been residing in the country for a long time and are not willing to take any step without consulting experts. “I have not seen my children for the last 3 years because of my illegal status and now I can't afford to commit any mistake which will make me repent for my deeds,” said Sadiq.
A.N, a 39-year-old overstayer, residing in Sonapur, was also approached by a few scammers to renew his residency status and also the issuance of a new visa. “My total penalty amounts to more than Dh70,000 and this person by the name of Khan, has approached me a couple of times luring me to start a new life,” said A.N.
“Khan has been giving me tempting offers. He told me that in Dh8,000 all my fines would be cleared and I would get a new residency visa to start my life in the UAE. But I couldn't believe him because of his consistent approaching,” said A.N.
“With this new scheme from the UAE authorities, I will try to find a job and then live in this country without any hassle,” added A.N while mentioning these scammers have approached a lot of overstayers in Sonapur.
‘No office’
Another resident of Sonapur, Raj Thiru, an Indian expat from Tamil Nadu, has been stuck in the UAE for nearly one year after his visit visa expired and was trying to find a way to legalise his status. “Over the past few days, as the amnesty period was announced, I was approached by a few of them offering to get me a residency visa for a low price, for Dh 6,000. But none of them had an office or any proper setup. It was shady. I have heard that a few of them have also fallen for this trick,” said Raj.
“I don’t know how these people seemed to know that I was desperate to fix my status, but I couldn’t risk losing what little money I have to a scam,” said Raj. “It’s been a tough few months, trying to get by with odd jobs, but I have learned to be cautious. Now with the amnesty, I hope to finally get things right.”
Immigration experts urge caution
Khaleej Times spoke to a few immigration experts and learned that the actual cost of obtaining a legitimate residency visa starts at way more than Dh5,000.
Immigration experts warn that these scams are designed to exploit the desperation of overstayers looking for a quick and affordable way to legalise their status. “Scammers are taking advantage of the amnesty period to lure overstayers with fake offers,” said Mohammed Dawood Shahbuddin of Seven City Document Clearing Services.
“The actual process of obtaining a residency visa is more complex and costly. The visa rates vary depending on what type of visa is applied for. There are three grades in the UAE visa system — for government companies, for multinational companies, and small-scale companies,” said Shahbuddin adding that people must be cautious and only deal with accredited agents or directly with government authorities.
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