Member News

United Arab Emirates

13 December 2024 – Stricter Document Screening Process Implemented for UAE Visit Visa Applications

Effective immediately, UAE authorities have implemented stricter documentary screen-ing procedures for UAE visit visa applications. All applicants must now provide hotel booking confirmations and proof of onward or return flight tickets. Applicants holding valid visas to other countries such as Canada, Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom or the United States may be required to submit copies of these visas. Applicants who must use designated visa issuance centers are also being asked to provide a police clearance certificate and proof of financial solvency (the minimum threshold for which varies based on the applicant’s nationality), typically by way of submitting a bank statement for the past three months. Previously, some of the above documentary requests could occur but were less common, being a matter of immigration officer discretion.

Additionally, based on immigration practitioner feedback, flight tickets are being heavily vetted for authenticity, with authorities preferring tickets that include an airline-generated barcode. The authorities have also verbally confirmed that they now monitor whether visa recipients cancel any hotel bookings used as part of their visa application process.

02 January 2025 – Two-Month Grace Period for Foreign Nationals in Irregular Status

The amnesty program ended on December 31, 2024, and as a result, individuals, including residents and visitors found to be in the United Arab Emirates in irregular status will be fined up to AED 50 per day and may face possible deportation, and employers hiring such individuals will also be fined up to AED one million.

03 January 2025 - Golden Visa for Select Individuals in Abu Dhabi’s Yacht In-dustry Announced

The In a further expansion of the UAE’s Golden Visa regime, Abu Dhabi is now offering a 10-year residence permit to superyacht owners and key executives in the yachting industry. Eligible individuals include private yacht owners with vessels of 40 meters or more, as well as CEOs, major shareholders of yacht building companies, central yacht agents, yacht service providers, and yacht insurance providers. As a reminder, family members of Golden Visa holders are eligible to apply for a dependent Golden Visa, which will have the same duration as that of the principal visa holder’s residency period.

QATAR

20 December 2024 – National Occupational Classification Manual Released

The Ministry of Labour has released a National Occupational Classification Manual designed to assist individuals and organizations in matching professions with the appropriate work permit, ensuring that their employee’s Qatar identity reflects their role more closely. The classification will also likely be essential for Qatarization calculations. Note that the manual does not define which roles are “skilled” or “non-skilled”, or whether a certain level of education is required for a given “skilled” role. Accordingly, employers must still proactively assess whether a given role is “skilled” or “un-skilled”, and should ensure the candidate holds the appropriate education level (where required).

KUWAIT

19 December 2024 - Relaxed Work Permit Renewal Requirements for Older Foreign Workers

Work permit renewal applications for foreign workers age 60 and above who do not possess post-secondary school education qualifications are no longer subject to a KWD 250 application fee and no longer require submission of educational or health insurance documentation. By reducing associated administrative and financial overheads, this policy seeks to increase retention of older workers, in turn promoting workforce inclusivity.

IRAQ

19 December 2024 - Stricter Enforcement of Visa Overstay Rules

Based on practitioner experience, the Ministry of Interior has increased monitoring and enforcement of visa overstay rules for all visa types, including work visas, visit visas, business visas, and visas-on-arrival. The penalties for overstaying range include a fine of between IQD 500,000 (approximately USD 380) to IQD 3,000,000 (approximately USD 2,300), depending on nationality and authority discretion, and a potential entry ban.

MIDDLE EAST

13 December 2024 - Deadlines for Updating Employee Salary Details in Pen-sion Authority Systems Announced

Authorities in the following countries have announced new deadlines for employers to update their employees’ salary details for pension and salary payment purposes:

• Bahrain: February 15, 2025. Updates can be made here.
• Egypt: January 31, 2025.
• Jordan: March 31, 2025. Updates can be made here.
• Qatar: January 31, 2025. Updates can be made here.
• United Arab Emirates: January 31, 2025. Updates can be made through through the applicable fund’s portal (including Abu Dhabi Pension Fund, General Pension and Social Security Authority, and Sharjah Social Security Fund).

In addition to avoiding administrative penalties and fines, providing up-to-date salary details ensures that all monthly pension contributions and empoyees’ taxable income are correct. Once the deadline to update the local employees’ salaries has lapsed, employers will no longer be able to update their employees’ salary details and must wait until the following year to do so.

ABOUT FRAGOMEN

Fragomen is a leading firm dedicated to immigration services worldwide. The firm has nearly 5,500 professionals and staff in 62 offices located in the Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA. Overall, Fragomen offers support in more than 170 countries.

We are structured to support all aspects of global immigration, including strategic planning, efficiency, quality management, compliance, government relations, reporting, and case management and processing. These capabilities allow us to represent a broad range of companies, organizations and individuals, working in partnership with clients to facilitate the transfer of employees worldwide.

Our Middle East and North Africa (MENA) practice also provides corporate services, including social security assistance, end-to-end corporate setup, corporate secretarial services, corporate amendments, restructuring activities and more. Our corporate services and immigration professionals have extensive experience working with multinational businesses, conglomerates, local employers, start-ups and individual investors. We have a deep understanding of the MENA region and maintain strong professional relationships with rele-vant authorities.

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