COVID-19: UAE residency visas expired after March 1 will be valid until December 31, 2020
Rule applies to both expatriates in the UAE and outside the country
Abu Dhabi: Residency visas and entry permits for expatriates, who are in the country, or those stranded abroad, will be valid until December 31, 2020, if their visas expired after March 1, 2020, it was announced on Thursday.
Brigadier Khamis Al Kaabi, the official spokesman for the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (FAIC), said: “Residency visas and entry permits for those inside or outside the country are valid until the end of December 2020, if expired after March 1, 2020.”
He said these decisions aim to lessen the impacts of the precautionary measures taken by the country to tackle the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
He said holders of residency visas that expires after March 1, 2020, and are still outside the country, will be considered valid until December 31, 2020.
Accordingly, ID cards expiring on March 1 will be valid until end of December 2020, Brigadier Al Kaabi emphasised.
“We are now working on many requests that we have received from expatriate residents and visitors in the country to return to their home countries due to the current conditions,” he said.
Brigadier Al Kaabi called on residents to apply for their transactions online via FAIC’s smart platforms and stressed the authority’s commitment to providing the highest quality of services.
He urged all community members, citizens, expatriate residents and visitors, who have any queries or questions, to contact the authority through the announced communication channels on its official website.