Dubai: Of the 1,534 people who applied for amnesty on the first day in Dubai on Wednesday, one young man had run up more than Dh1 million in visa overstay fines because of his undocumented birth in the UAE 18 years ago, an official said on Thursday.
Brigadier Khalaf Al Gaith, assistant director-general, Violators and Foreigners Follow-up Section in Dubai, said Al Aweer centre also received amnesty-seekers from other emirates who didn’t have passports or documents.
“An Asian family came with their 18-year-old son seeking amnesty for his fines as an illegal resident. His family didn’t get any birth papers issued for him. We waived his fines which were more than Dh1 million and coordinated with his embassy to get necessary documents issued for him and grant him an outpass so he can leave the country after 10 days,” Brig Al Gaith said.
In yet another case, a Palestinian woman sought help after she had Dh500,000 in overstay fines since first arriving in the UAE on a visit visa a decade ago.
Meanwhile, Al Aweer centre issued 326 outpasses to applicants seeking to leave the country without paying fines.
“Many people were confused about where to go and didn’t have passports or travel documents. Most of the amnesty-seekers came from other emirates and we advised them to go to the respective amnesty centres in their emirates. Many of them have absconding reports and they need to lift those in their emirates,” Brig Al Gaith added.
Official statistics revealed that 408 people applied to renew their visas at Amer centres on the first day on Wednesday, 260 to modify their residency status with new sponsors, 124 to lift absconding cases against them and 416 people applied for visa cancellation without changing their status.
“We have called on each amnesty-seeker to get a passport or travel document before coming to the amnesty centres. We have asked the people whose visas are cancelled to get a new sponsor or visa to change their status in the country.”
He added that Amer centres received about 6,000 calls enquiring about the amnesty and how to change the status. About 2,600 calls were about the amnesty period and required documents.
“Families and elderly people were among those seeking amnesty. The average time for a violator to modify his status is between 15 and 25 minutes, but it varies from one case to another,” Brig Al Gaith added.
He urged amnesty-seekers who are willing to leave the country to come with an airline ticket valid for 10 days after visiting the centre.
“We have an airline counter at the centre but it is better for the amnesty-seeker to come with an airline ticket which should be valid for 10 days after getting the outpass.”
Saddam Hussain, 20, came to the UAE from India on a visit visa, which has since lapsed.
“I worked for [a] construction company and they didn’t change my status and [paid] no salary for one month, so I escaped. I have been an illegal resident for three months now and want to go back home without paying the fine,” Hussain told Gulf News.
