Medical insurance for UAE visa now?

Last month the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) announced that as per August 1, the health insurance scheme would be linked to visa issuance and renewal.

"The DHA has partnered with General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) so that no new visa will be issued or an existing one renewed where the individual concerned does not have health insurance coverage in place at the time of visa application or renewal," it said.

This week however, visa issuance and renewal was still possible without the presentation of a medical insurance card.

When contacting Amer services, the helpline of the GDRFA, a representative explained that no circular regarding this topic had been received and visas were still provided without the presentation of a medical insurance card.

At the time of this writing Emirates 24|7 was awaiting a response from the DHA.

"This is in the pipeline, but as for now we are not requiring any such documentation," said a representative of Fixit, a typing centre in Dubai.

The mandatory health insurance currently rolled out in Dubai means that any person in Dubai, be it resident or tourist, must be covered by health insurance.

At this point it is not clear which documents will have to be presented, when, and where.

Visitors to the country will be asked to purchase medical insurance as they enter the country, explained the DHA earlier.

However, details about the options are not yet available.

Linking of visa renewal or issuance to the mandatory health insurance is not applicable for some companies and individuals who have until June 2016 to comply with the regulations.

These include companies with less than 100 employees, and spouses, dependents and domestic workers.

When the linking is enforced, it will be applicable to ‘phase-one companies’ with more than 1,000 employees on their sponsorship and companies with 100 to 999 employees, which passed the deadline for compliance on August 1. 

Watch this space for more details.

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