UAE | Visa
Dubai to open online visa service to all in 2009
Starting next year, the public will be able to apply for all kinds of visas online, a senior official from the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) said.
- By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
- Published: 16:14 December 29, 2008
Dubai: Starting next year, the public will be able to apply for all kinds of visas online, a senior official from the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) said.
Until now, the facility was restricted to registered companies.
Lieutenant Colonel Nasir Khalid Al Marzouqi, assistant director for the IT department at DNRD, said applications for online visas will be opened to the public next year.
He said all online visa applications must be accompanied by photos of the applicants.
Photographs
"No visa applied online will be accepted without photographs of the applicants," he said.
He said the move was undertaken following an instruction by Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, that all visa applications, whether online or on paper, must have photos of the applicants.
"Visas without photos will be rejected," Major General Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, Director General of DNRD, told Gulf News.
"This is not a new rule but some online applicants used to ignore this rule. From now on rules will be implemented strictly," he said.
In order to sort out the issue with companies, DNRD organised a workshop this week for 600 representatives of firms in Dubai.
Al Marzouqi said that adding the photo for the applicant online will make it easy for both the residency department and the company which applied for the visit visa.
Your comments
This is a great move to reduce the pain of applying for a visa. A lot of time and energy can be saved without taking leave from the office. It will help a lot of people.
Sudeesh Nellika
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 30, 2008, 13:46
Thanks for initiative. The public will be able to apply for all kinds of visas online. This system is very useful for tourists all over the world, like me.
Saif Al Alam
Dhaka,Bangladesh
Posted: December 30, 2008, 13:12
This facility should be done in other emirates.
Abdul Salam
Sharjah,India
Posted: December 30, 2008, 12:22
Excellent, day by day Dubai is making everyone's life easier. I appreciate the initiatives taken by the Dubai authorities to ease traffic in all departments.
Abed Ali
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 30, 2008, 11:41
We are glad to read and know that DNRD is going to open an online visa service next year. It is good news for the public, as people are usually cheated by fake agents. This way people will be saved from the losses and will be able to get right visas from the right place.
Hamayun Akhtar
Islamabad,Pakistan
Posted: December 30, 2008, 11:16
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