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29 March 2024

Visa scam: Dh19,000 for 3-year residence visa

Picture only for illustrative purpose (FILE)

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By Staff

Some people in the UAE are trading in residence visas. They notify people in need via SMS messages about visa availablity for a price. A three-year residence visa will cost about Dh19,000, according to a report in 'Emarat Al Youm'.

A source, on condition of anonymity, told the Arabic daily that the 'trader' issues three-year residence visas from free zones in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

When a reporter from the paper, posing as a client, contacted the 'trader' he was willing to offer a three-year residence visa for Dh18,750.

His modus operandi involves bringing in a group of five people to open a fictitious joint stock company in any of the free zone areas. Such firms cannot sponsor workers nor can they open bank accounts, he added. Once these people land in real jobs, they can transfer their visas without a ban because founders of companies are considered investors, he explained.

Major-General Mohammad Al Mari, Director-General, General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, urged the public to be careful of such people. "The department would take legal action to ensure identification of such messages," he added.

Humaid bin Dimas, Executive Director of Labour Affairs, Ministry of Labour, said: "The sender of such messages is violating labour laws."

According to UAE labour laws, those who bring in workers without offering them real work will be fined Dh50,000 and a jail term. Offenders have been punished, he added.