Too soon to confirm six-year limit on visas

Reports that a new residency law that would limit the time certain foreign workers could remain in the country were labelled as premature.

ABU DHABI // Reports that the Government will introduce a new residency law limiting the time certain foreign workers may remain in the country were labelled yesterday as premature. Brig Gen Nasser al Minhali, acting director general of the Department of Naturalisation and Residency, said the Ministry of Interior was studying all sections of the residency law but that "so far nothing has been conducted with regard to placing a cap on the duration of residency visas".

Still, he indicated the law would be changed in some way before the end of the year. "The law covers everything to do with the resident's residency, from fees to rules to duration," he said yesterday. "We will revise it all." Draft legislation would be then referred to the Federal National Council (FNC). "The goal of the department is to revise all issues of the law to come up with new measures that serve the community in accordance with the current economic, social and security situation," he said.

Local news reports quoted Gen al Minhali as saying that a number of proposals were under consideration but that the committee charged with introducing any legislative changes had not yet taken up the issue. The GCC states have repeatedly stressed that migrant labour is temporary and contractual, making it possible for governments to introduce time limits for foreign workers. Last May, the FNC followed up on a suggestion in 2007 by GCC states that visas for unskilled workers be limited to six years to address a population imbalance.

A report to the Government by the FNC's internal affairs and defence committee recommended that permits for labourers, housemaids, farmers and herders not be extended beyond six years. It proposed that such workers be permitted return to the UAE only if they restarted the visa process from outside the country. [e-mail]