Two-month-old told to fly to Kish for visa change

Ajman: A two-month-old baby must travel to the Iranian island of Kish or to Oman and return so that he can get a residency visa.

Iraqi baby Ehab was born in Syria and landed in the UAE on a visit visa issued from the UAE Embassy in Damascus. He and his mother entered through Sharjah airport, Osama, the baby's father, told Gulf News. The baby's name was on his mother's passport.

Osama said he cannot add the baby's details on the mother's passport because according to Iraqi law children must have their own passport. "I applied for a new passport for my son at our consulate. I then approached Ajman Naturalisation and Residency Department for a residency visa for Ehab. I was asked to get typewritten forms and pay Dh700 as fees," he said. But when he filed the application, it was rejected.

Federal law

"The officials said the visa cannot be changed if the passport does not show that the person had not gone out of the country," he said. An official at the department told Gulf News that according to federal law, a person's status from visitor to resident or employed requires him to travel outside the country, get the passport stamped and come back.

The officials told Osama to take to the baby to Kish or Oman, get a stamp on his passport and come back for the residency application to be accepted.