A Special Notification to All Sri Lankans with regard to the Amnesty 2018 declared by the Government of the United Arab Emirates

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        The Government of the United Arab Emirates has declared an Amnesty under the theme of Protect Yourself by Modifying Your Status for all expatriates staying illegally in UAE without valid visa in violation of UAE Immigration regulations with effect from 1^st August 2018 to 31^st October 2018.

The amnesty could be utilized by Sri Lankans staying illegally in the United Arab Emirates under the following two categories:

1. Illegal Sri Lankans who wish to leave the country without facing fines or facing legal issues.
2. Illegal Sri Lankans who wish to modify/legalize their visa status in UAE and continue to stay in UAE.

The Federal Authority for the Identity and Citizenship, under which the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners’ Affairs Abu Dhabi will open up three Service Centers in Abu Dhabi Emirates, i.e. Sahama, Al Ain and Al Ghariba (Western Region) for those who apply for the facility. The Service Centers will operate from Sunday to Thursday from 08 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The procedures to be followed by Illegal Sri Lankans who wish to leave UAE under the amnesty:

The possession of a valid Sri Lankan travel document is essential, for which the applicants should look into their status under the following categories:

1.Applicants who possess valid Sri Lankan travel document, yet with no valid UAE visa:

Applicants under this category could apply to leave UAE without being subjected to fines or legal proceedings through Service Centers. Applicants should visit relevant service center with air ticket to apply for Exit Permit by the UAE authority and thereafter leave the country within 7 days.

2. Applicants who possess expired Sri Lankan travel document with no valid UAE visa:

Applicant under this category should visit the Embassy of Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi for applying Emergency Exit Certificate (OUT PASS), and to visit relevant service center thereafter with air ticket to apply for Exit Permit to leave the county within 7 days afterwards.

3. Applicants who do not possess Sri Lankan travel document nor valid UAE visa:

Applicants under this category should visit the Embassy of Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi for applying Emergency Exit Certificate (OUT PASS) and subsequently apply for Exit Permit from relevant Service Center with air ticket to leave UAE within 7 days afterwards.

The procedures to be followed to avail the facility of amnesty by Illegal Sri Lankans who wish to modify/regularize their visa status in UAE.

Illegal Sri Lankans under this category could avail the amnesty without being subjected to pay fines or legal proceedings.

The applicants who wish to avail the amnesty under this category should pay their attention to the under mentioned matters with regard to their valid Sri Lankan travel documents:

1. Applicants who possess a Sri Lankan passport which has more than six months validity, yet with no valid UAE visa:

The applicants under this category should visit to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization of UAE for registration with the payment of AED 500.00 and thereby to obtain UAE visa valid for 6 months to apply for employment opportunity in UAE.

2. Applicants who possess a Sri Lankan Passport which has no minimum of six months validity, and nor valid UAE            visa:

 Applicants under this category should visit the Embassy for applying for a new passport urgently, and thereafter to visit the  Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization of UAE with the new passport for registration with the payment of AED 500.00. The applicant will be issued with 6 months visa to apply for UAE employment by the authority thereafter.

The applicant, who reports the loss of the passport, should obtain a Police report when applying for a new passport. Please note that Non-Machine Readable Passports (NMRP) are not acceptable in UAE for this purpose, and therefore regular passports should be obtained by the applicants.

[Issuance of regular passport is the sole authority of the Department of Immigration & Emigration in Colombo, which takes around two months. This Mission is in discussion with the authority in Colombo for early issuance of regular passports for those who apply under this Amnesty.]

Please visit the Embassy Website, www.embassyofsrilankauae.com for applying a new passport.

Illegal Sri Lankans who absconded by the employer also could avail the amnesty to regularize the visa status, for which the applicant should first visit the Immigration Department and pay AED 500.00 to clear the absconding status and thereafter to apply for UAE visa valid for 6 months.

If an illegal Sri Lankan who absconded by the employer needs to remove the absconding status and leave the country, he/she could avail this facility to re enter the UAE without a ban with a payment of AED 500 for Exit Permit.

However, those who wish to leave UAE with no intention to returning, could apply to leave the country without cancelling the abscond status. AED 220.00 for issuance of Exit Permit by the Abu Dhabi Immigration will have to be borne by the applicant in this instance.

Children who were born to parents who have no valid visa could also avail the amnesty for which the birth should be legalized as per the UAE law.

Sri Lanka nationals who have court cases on financial issue and being blacklisted on non-residential violation will not be accepted for amnesty and such cases will be dealt as per the law of the country.

The under mentioned officials could be contacted from Monday to Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. at the Embassy for further information and assistance related to the amnesty declared.

Embassy of Sri Lanka

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

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