Dubai: Overstay and other residency violation fines of around 40 per cent of expatriates were waived this year, top official at General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai said on Monday.
The GDRFA service centre in Al Aweer received 25,000 violators and humanitarian cases this year until October and 80 per cent of humanitarian cases were settled by waiving the fines or through heavy discounts. Also, almost fines of 40 per cent of 25,000 violators were waived or given discounts.
The department, meanwhile, received 11,000 humanitarian requests for sponsoring or issuing visas for parents, siblings of people whose countries are at war or hit by natural disasters. Of these 9,000 were approved this year so far compared to 17,000 last year.
During a media tour of the Al Aweer centre on Monday, Major General Mohammad Al Merri, director-general of GDRFA Dubai, said: “This centre handles residency violation cases and settle them on humanitarian basis by cancelling their fines or get them a discount. For example, if a person was seriously injured in his job, or if there was a death in a family and members couldn’t change his legal situation in the country, we settle such cases on humanitarian grounds,” Maj-Gen Al Merri said.
“We look at each case and see if it is worth a special help or discount. Sometimes people get caught in situations that are beyond their control,” he added.
The GDRFA last year received 12,000 cases and the cases increase during the start of school year as parents want to change the legal status of their children. The jump in cases, however, from 12,000 last year to 25,000 this year was not explained by the GDRFA officials.
Brigadier Khalaf Al Ghaith, deputy director of Violators and Foreigners Sector at GDRFA-Dubai, said people can make special case requests through their website or by using GDRFA app on smart phones.
“People can request the service online and provide documents and we can look in his case and decide to help him or not. We respect all the residents in the UAE and our aim to make them happy and provide best services for them,” Brigadier Al Ghaith told Gulf News.
During the media trip, Gulf News met an Algerian family, including four children who were staying illegally in the country since March this year.
“I could not renew visas of my family as I lost my job. Now I have found a new job and want renew the residency for my wife and children but I can’t pay fines. I have pleaded for discount or waiver of fines,” the father said.
The case of another expatriate, Ali Jaber, a Pakistani father of seven children, was more complicated as he was staying illegally in the country since 2016 and he couldn’t renew residence visas of his family.
“I have found a new job now and I want to plead for waiver of fines. As I suffer from epilepsy and I couldn’t renew my family visas and now I am facing heavy fines,” Jaber said.
