Visa penalty waived of Indians who trapped in UAE

0
UAE-Residence-Visa_Example

Dubai: The United Arab Emirates waived thousands of dirhams of visa fines to be recovered from Indian expatriates whose visa had expired before March 1. According to a media report, they will not have to bear the extra burden to return home amid the Covid-19 epidemic.

Gulf News in a news quoted the Consulate General of India in Dubai as saying that so far 145 Indians have taken advantage of the scheme proposed by the Indian Mission in the UAE. The news said that the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi had announced the opening of a new system on July 22, under which Indians whose residency and travel visas expired before March 1 would be paid unpaid dues by August 17 in India. Domestic flights may be returned by flights. Indian Consulate official for media, information and culture Neeraj Aggarwal said that the Directorate General of Housing and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai has waived the fee for the applications of 145 Indians in the first phase. These applicants also include fugitives facing charges of violation of housing rules.

Aggarwal said that people living without proper documents for many years can now return home without paying a fine. He said 800 applications have been sent to the GDRFA office and more approvals are expected in the coming weeks as the Eid holiday is over. He said that returning passengers without paying visa-related fines would have to arrive at the airport a little earlier than normal time as they would have to follow some additional procedures at the airport.

The visa penalty case came to light last month when 30 Rajasthani workers were stopped from taking a return flight as they had not paid the penalty imposed after the end of the visa period. These workers told the Indian consulate that they had not earned any money for the last three months and that they had no proper place to stay.

Advertisement