Dubai: The news of the reduction to two years of the validity of residence visas and labour cards drew mixed reactions from Dubai's business community.
The move which will be implemented next month, is a bid to regulate the labour market.
Paras Shahdadpuri, Chairman of the Indian Business and Professional Council, believes that two-year contracts will not help business.
"Generally, we expect employees to work for a three-year period, because it takes five to six months to [get] your feet in the company. If people are leaving in two years it's bad for the company," Paras said.
He suggested the government should give companies a choice of two- or three-year visas.
Encourage fluidity
Sudhir Kumar, partner at Morison Menon Chartered Accountants, believes this move will encourage fluidity and buoyancy in the market.
"The move is good for employees as well as employers. From the employers' perspective, he can keep track of his employees and from an employees' perspective since they are only contracted for two years, there are more possibilities. It will encourage movement which will be good for the economy," Kumar said. Mohammad Asif Jabbar, Group CEO of Alif Investment, believes that the announcement comes at the wrong time.
"People are not ready for this announcement just as we're coming out of a fin-ancial downturn. Now we are seeing a growth and to issue such a ruling now will not help to improve the market. It will show that the government is in need of cash flow and they're putting a burden on companies," Jabbar said.
Emirati businessmen Mohidin Bin Hendi, President of Binhendi Enterprises, who has over 3,000 employees, said that it's going to be more expensive for the companies, including his own. "I used to do it [residency renewal for employees] twice every six years. Now I have to do it twice every four years," he told Gulf News.
Bin Hendi said that it's important for the country to remain an appealing business destination.
"The UAE as a whole should make it very attractive for people to come and do business and should minimise the expenses," he said. "We are becoming a penalty — penalty by the RTA, penalty by this and penalty by that."
