Sharjah: Company owners raised concerns over visa issues at a open question and answer session with top Sharjah Residency and Foreign Affairs officers on Tuesday (April 24).
In the session attended by around 40 people at the Entry and Residency permits building, an Arab expat company owner said employees who had automatically had their visa cancelled after staying outside the country for over six months were able to re-enter the country and not be shown as ‘cancelled’ on the system.
“Even if they were in the country, the company wouldn’t know,” he said. “This person could then violate the law and the company would still be held responsible, which is unfair to the company.”
Another issue raised was that in the event of activating a visa, a representative of the company must go to the airport or border
from where the person entered to get a manifest in addition to paying Dh110 before going back to immigration. Company owners said that instead of having to drive two hours back and forth to the border, the issue could be resolved online.
Colonel Abdullah Saleh, deputy director of the Entry and Residency Department in Sharjah, promised to study the suggestions and work to apply alternatives. Saleh said he was pleased with the session and the suggestions people came up with to make procedures easier.
