More than 65m residency transactions in 2015

Dubai: More than 65 million transactions were conducted by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) last year, the department revealed on Saturday, a 6.6 per cent increase when compared to statistics from 2014.

Brigadier Salah Saif Bin Saloum, Assistant of the director-general for the entry permits and residence department, pointed out that 65.35 million transactions were conducted in 2015. “This is about 6.5 per cent higher than the 61 million transactions we conducted in 2014,” he said.

Brig Bin Saloum said that the number of transactions related to entry permits also experienced a slight increase when compared to previous numbers. “In 2015, we conducted more than 13.4 million entry-permit transactions. In 2014, the numbers were slightly less where we conducted 13. 36 million transactions.

A 17.31 per cent rise in the total number of transactions related to residency permits, including renewals, was reported by the GDRFA.

“We conducted almost 3.5 million transactions related to residency permits, which includes issuing new ones and renewals,” Brig Bin Saloum said, “In 2014, statistics report just less than three million transactions in the same field.”

More than 1.6 million transactions for new residency permits were conducted by the department last year — a 3.22 per cent increase when compared to 2014. While 1.3 million transactions for renewing residency permits were conducted in 2015.

Brig Bin Saloum also said that the GDRFA transactions related to establishment cards and PRO cards experienced almost a 20 per cent increase. “Almost 300,000 transactions for issuing or renewing these cards were conducted in 2015,” he said.

Maj Gen Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, director-general of the GDRFA-Dubai, said the department made significant achievements in 2015. “We are always keen on improving our services and easing procedures for our residents and visitors,” he said. “Our aim is to increase customer satisfaction levels, and make Dubai and the UAE a global hub, as directed by our country’s leaders.”