No casualties were reported by authorities in Aurora province, but thousands of homes were damaged, and heavy losses were sustained
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[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.]
Tess, who will be turning 70 on November 24, has received an early birthday gift from the UAE: exit pass for her and her husband, Avel, after they availed of the visa amnesty scheme.
“This (birthday gift) is actually equivalent to about Dh200,000, if we compute the fines that both of us have incurred for overstaying our visa,” Tess, who requested not to give their surname, told Khaleej Times on Wednesday.
Tess and Avel were among the hundreds of overstayers who trooped to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) Dubai’s Al Awir centre on Wednesday, a day before the end of the two-month amnesty programme that started on September 1.
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As they showed their exit passes, the senior couple from the Philippines said they had already purchased tickets to fly out of the UAE on Thursday and return the same day after rectifying their status. “We have initiated applying for a free zone investor’s visa from Ras Al Khaimah, but there’s a requirement to leave the country because our last tourist visa was from another emirate,” said Avel.
Tess and Avel have been travelling in and out of the UAE since 2019 to visit their children who are all long-time Dubai residents. “We never had any intention of overstaying our visit visa, but I had a stroke in 2021 that prevented me from leaving the country,” said Tess.
“There was still the fear of Covid-19 at that time, and my doctor strongly advised me not to travel,” added Tess, who now has a pacemaker implanted in her body to monitor her heart rate.
“We were aware of the overstaying fines but we did not risk allowing our mother to go back home,” said Marie, 40, daughter of Tess and Avel, adding: “There’s also no ‘home’ to go back to in the Philippines because all my siblings are here in the UAE.”
“Last time we checked, each of them accumulated nearly Dh100,000 fine. Thankfully, that was also the time when the UAE announced the amnesty programme. We actually applied for amnesty last month, but we had to clear some documents first that’s why we were only able to finalise everything now,” Marie added.
Marie, who has been living in Dubai for almost two decades, said: “This amnesty is the best and the most timely gift my mother has received. We did not have to pay a hefty fine, and I thank the UAE for giving us a second chance to live as a complete family in the UAE.”
“It also helped that the money we were supposed to pay for the fines will now be used as a seed capital to start a trading company. We will be doing mostly online selling,” said Marie, adding her parents will be the ones who will help her with the business.
Avel added: “We are truly grateful. Shukran, UAE. We feel more secure here because of the great healthcare facilities, and all our children and grandchildren are here. We don’t want to live far from them and, now, we can continue to live legally.”
Meanwhile, the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) and Philippine Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Dubai repatriated on Tuesday 47 overstaying Filipinos who availed of the amnesty programme. This brings the total number of repatriates to 581 Filipinos since the start of amnesty on September 1.
“The repatriates, who formed the 9th batch of individuals from Dubai and the Northern Emirates, were given an opportunity to return to the Philippines with their overstay and absconding fines generously waived by the UAE government,” noted the PCG.
The repatriated Filipinos were provided free air tickets and financial assistance from the Philippine government.
Philippine ambassador Alfonso Ver reiterated the importance of availing of the amnesty programme without delay. He urged all remaining eligible Filipinos to secure their exit passes (outpasses) promptly before the deadline, “as new directives have been issued to UAE companies to cease recruitment of overstayers.”
An amendment made to the UAE labour law made employing workers without a proper permit an offence that can attract fines between Dh100,000 and Dh1 million.
“Filipinos who have been unable to secure employment visas are encouraged to take advantage of the amnesty programme and return home to the Philippines rather than risk overstaying,” Alfonso Ver added.
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