Vimala Vasan

Abu Dhabi , Feb. 11

ACTING quickly to ensure public safety and reduce problems for expatriates looking for jobs in the UAE, following the Kish Airline plane crash in Sharjah that resulted in the death of 12 Indians and a number of expatriates from other nationalities, the Dubai Government has taken a decision to scrap the requirement that visitors have to leave the country to change visa status.

General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and the UAE Minister of Defence, issued a decision late on Tuesday, allowing persons who have entered the UAE on visit permits and who have afterwards been offered employment permits in Dubai emirate to adjust status without leaving the country, according to a report by the official Emirates News Agency, WAM.

WAM also reported today that the UAE's President, Mr Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, has ordered the annulment of the law which demands that visitors to the UAE must leave the country before re-entering with new entry visa The rule is to be annulled throughout the country in a move to ease visa transactions in the UAE, the President said, according to the news agency.

Sources at the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department said that the decision would be implemented with immediate effect. Those on visit visas can change to employment visas without travelling outside the country, sources said, adding that the move is aimed at facilitating procedures for the public, according to the agency report.

A large number of Indians as well as expatriates of other nationalities have been travelling short distances to places such as Kish island in Iran to re-enter the UAE and regularise their visa status.

The Iranian Kish Airline was used for the visa run and Tuesday's crash in the open land close to residential areas in Sharjah proved an unfortunate end to the aspirations of a group of passengers hoping to earn a livelihood in the UAE on their return.