Watch: Indian expat woman to fly home after 28 years as Dh878,000 fines waived in UAE visa amnesty

Dubai: For Indian expat Gudala Baby, the UAE extending the grace period for violators to rectify their residency status till December 31 became the biggest boon in life.

Thanks to the additional grace period, her complex case of visa amnesty has been resolved and she is all set to fly home for the first time after 28 years following the waiver of overstay fines to the tune of a whopping Dh878,000.

Speaking to Gulf News on Wednesday, the 66-year-old thanked the UAE authorities, the Indian Consulate in Dubai and the community volunteers who helped her legalise her residency status after around 26 years.

Hailing from the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Gudala came over to the UAE in 1996. “I first came to work for a family in Abu Dhabi,” she recalled.

“My husband had passed away a year ago and I had to support my children and my mother.”

She said her mother took care of her two sons when she flew out seeking greener pastures. “I had paid money to the agent to come here. But, my salary was very less,” she claimed. Gudala said she had left her job after a year for certain reasons.

“I didn’t know what to do when my visa expired. I didn’t get any sponsor. I did some part time job to survive and support my family.”

Living in fear

In 2001, one of her acquaintances helped her reach Dubai. She started living with a group of women from her state who worked as part-time house maids.

“I managed to do some odd jobs here as well, mainly cooking and cleaning. Everyone likes my cooking. Some families did not allow to work with them when they got to know I don’t have a visa. But, some were kind. Some never bothered to ask [about her residency status].”

Gudala said she had always lived in fear of getting caught and punished. “Every day, I would pray before going out.”

She said her sons are now married and have two children each. “I have seen them on video calls. But, I am going to meet them in person for the first time. I am taking chocolates for them,” said the grandmother.

“My mother has been asking me to return home. But, I continued to support my children because they are not earning well back home. They are farmers and due to the heavy rains and frequent flooding in our area, they can’t earn well.”

Complex case

Gudala approached the Indian Consulate to apply for amnesty on September 16. However, she only had the copy of her old handwritten passport, said Shaikh Muzaffer, founder president of Aim India Forum (AIF), a community group supporting the consulate in the amnesty procedures.

A member of the volunteering team, Bhoomesh Methari, coordinated with Gudala’s sons to get notarised documents from the local authorities to prove her Indian citizenship.

Following this, the Indian Consulate in Dubai issued her an emergency certificate [EC]. Also called an outpass, the EC is a one-time travel document issued to those who do not hold a valid passport to travel to India.

However, due to the delay in getting the papers from India, those procedures got over only on October 31, the day on which the UAE visa amnesty scheme was scheduled to end as per the initial announcement.

Grateful for amnesty extension

“I was very scared as there was no time to finish the rest of the documentation work with the UAE immigration authorities. But, we were all hopeful that the UAE authorities will extend the amnesty period,” said Gudala.

She said she felt relieved when she got to know the amnesty scheme had been extended.

Muzaffer said there were complications because of discrepancy in her name in different documents. “In some documents, her name is Gudala Baby, while in some it was Gudala Pape. Pape means baby in her native language.”

He said the immigration authorities in Abu Dhabi helped in clearing the documents and she was then asked to go for recording fingerprints. Within one hour after Gudala’s biometrics were recorded at the ICP Centre in Sweihan, she was issued an exit permit.

“I was so happy finally everything got cleared,” she said.

When she was told that her pending fines for overstaying for 9,388 days amounted to Dh877,950, Gudala said: “I cannot even imagine such a huge amount of money. I have no words to thank this country for sparing me from paying this huge fines.”

Amnesty programme

The amnesty programme allows illegal residents and visitors to clear their immigration records without paying any fines or facing any visa bans. They are also allowed to return legally.

Gudala said she became happy again when Methari informed her that he was arranging her return ticket home as well. “I am very happy now. I am ready to come back and work legally. But, I don’t think my children will allow me to do it,” she added.

In a statement to Gulf News earlier, the Consulate had urged Indian nationals living illegally to comply with visa rules and seek assistance before the amnesty deadline. The mission had thanked the UAE government for the amnesty programme and the Indian community organisations and volunteers who are supporting the mission in this regard.