The number of immigration officers at Dubai’s Al Awir Centre has been doubled in a bid to deal high numbers of visa amnesty seekers in the last few days of the initiative. With the deadline for the UAE visa amnesty on Thursday, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA) advised any candidates who have not yet come forward to do so as soon as possible.
Amnesty seekers flocked to the centre – one of many ready to welcome overstayers across the UAE this week – on Monday as thousands sought to resolve visa-related issues in the final days of the initiative, which ends on October 31. Tens of thousands are seeking exit permits to leave the country and the GDRFA has implemented a special plan to handle the anticipated influx of applicants in the final days of the amnesty, Lt Col Salem bin Ali, director of the customer happiness department at the authority, told The National.
“We have doubled the number of officers as we expect many people to show up for the last week of the amnesty. It is normal and we’ve seen that in former amnesties,” Lt Col bin Ali said. He also confirmed there will be no extension.
