Dubai: A 10-year-old Indian boy in Dubai became one of the first visa overstayers in the UAE to get his residence visa renewed without paying fines, on the first day of the UAE amnesty on Wednesday.
The boy’s father, Hitesh Rajwani, told Gulf News that it was a godsend when his uncle told him about the amnesty three days ago.
“I’ve been struggling to pay the fines and renew the visas of my wife and son, which had expired in October last year,” said Rajwani from Madhya Pradesh.
He couldn’t renew their visas due to personal issues, he said. “I had to go to India frequently for treatment for my back pain and many expenses kept piling up.”
Rajwani managed to pay the rent and renew his wife’s visa after paying a fine of Dh5,000. “I had to pay another Dh1,240 fine each for both of them, for the delay in renewing their Emirates IDs.”
Since he was not in a position to pay any additional fines on his son’s visa, Rajwani decided to put it on hold.
On hearing that overstay fines will be waived off during the amnesty, he first approached the Amer Centre in Al Khaleej Centre to check the fines on Tuesday. “I was told the fines had gone up to Dh8,750.”
On Wednesday morning, he visited the Amnesty Centre in Al Aweer, from where he was sent back to the Amer Centre since applications for visa overstayers wishing to stay back in the UAE are accepted only in such centres.
“When I came back and checked, the fine has disappeared from the system. It was a big relief when the staff at the counter told me there is zero fine now. I immediately asked him to process the visa renewal application.”
Within minutes of submitting the application, Rajwani received the text and email confirmation for the visa renewal approval.
He immediately proceeded to the GDRFA office on the Hyatt Regency premises and got the visa stamped on his son’s passport by 12:40pm.
Hailing the UAE government’s humanitarian initiative, Rajwani said his gratitude to the country has reached new levels. “Dubai is home to me as I’m born and brought up here. My heartfelt thanks to the government for this great humanitarian support to people who wish to live and work here.”
Rajwani said he will now personally spread the message about the amnesty to people who would benefit from it, including a former houseboy who worked for his parents in Dubai.
