Expired visas of residents stranded in UAE to be cancelled – News

Question: My wife has a UAE residency visa. She left for India on February 16, but she was stuck there due to the pandemic. Will her visa expire if she cannot return by August 16? And if it expires, do I still need to cancel it?
Answer:
The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) mentioned on July 10 that residents who are staying abroad and whose residence visas expired on March 1 or who have spent more than six months outside the country, are granted a grace period to return to the UAE, starting from the date of resumption of flight operations between the two countries.
The precise timing of the grace period will be determined by the ICA. On the other hand, the Government of India and the Government of the UAE have agreed to extend the ‘air bubble’ arrangements till the end of August, during which time special inbound and outbound flights between the two countries will be operated. Your wife can avail this facility to return to the UAE on or after 15th August, but within a reasonable time.
If your wife is unable to travel to the UAE during the validity of her UAE residency visa or during the grace period mentioned by the ICA, her visa will expire. However, if your wife is a holder of an investor visa, she can be out of the country for one year before the visa becomes invalid.
Additionally, it should be noted that even if your wife’s residence visa expires, it must be cancelled so that she can return to the UAE in the future with a new residence visa or a visit visa.
You may contact the visa issuing authority of the emirate where you applied for your wife’s visa for further information on this matter.

Know the law
If a resident outside the country is unable to return during the validity of his UAE visa or within the grace period allocated by the ICA, his residence visa will expire and will have to be cancelled.

Ashish Mehta is the founder and managing partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is admitted to practice law in Dubai, the UK and India. Full details of his firm are available at: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may email their queries to: [email protected] or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.