Visa amnesty work in Dubai pauses on September 15

Services will not be available during the public holiday and resume on Monday

Applicants are being advised that the visa amnesty centre in Al Awir will reopen on Monday morning. Pawan Singh / The National

Visa amnesty seekers in Dubai are being advised not to travel to service centres on Sunday and wait until Monday morning instead.

Officials said that with commemorations of the Prophet Mohammed's birthday on Sunday, September 15, all service centres in the emirate would be closed, according to Wam.

The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai said business will resume on Monday, September 16, from 8am to 8pm throughout the week, except on Fridays, when centres are closed between noon and 4pm.

These hours apply to the violators’ status correction centre in Al Awir and 86 Amer centres across parts of Dubai.

In Abu Dhabi, Federal Authority For Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP) centres in Al Dhafra, Sweihan, Al Maqam and Al Shahamah as well as private typing centres that are recognised by the ICP are closed on Sundays.

Thousands of applicants

Nearly 20,000 people applied for amnesty in the first week of operation, according to the GDRFA.

The amnesty, known also as the Towards a Safer Community campaign, will run until the end of October, allowing people with expired residency or tourist visas to change their status or leave the country without being fined, nor will they face a ban on re-entering the UAE.

By Monday September 9, as many as 17,391 visa overstayers had completed their paperwork at one of 86 Amer centres in Dubai or used the digital platform, while 2,393 people processed their applications at Al Awir Centre. The authority added that 98.96 per cent of the cases were completed within the first 48 hours.

Watch: A Closer Look: UAE visa amnesty explained