By IANS
Dubai : Immigration authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are considering a grace period of one week to one month for amnesty seekers to leave the country after the special amnesty scheme ends Sep 2.
“Increasing the departure deadline was just a suggestion and it is not yet confirmed. We have been informed that there is some problem with the booking of tickets considering the rush to travel in this period,” Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) official Captain Abdullah Al Matrouchi said Tuesday.
In June, the UAE cabinet had announced a three-month grace period for foreigners present illegally in the country to regularise their status according to the law or leave the country without penalty.
“The exit passes issued by DNRD’s Follow-up and Investigation Section (FIS) are valid for one week. However, after Sep 2, DNRD may be considering increasing the departure deadline,” Khaleej Times quoted Al Matrouchi as saying.
Till last week, more than 28,000 Indian workers had returned to India under the amnesty scheme.
There are around 1.4 million expatriate Indians in the UAE, many of them contract workers. In Dubai alone, Indians comprise over 60 percent of the city’s total population of over 1.4 million.