UAE postpones good conduct certificate for work visas

The good conduct certificates, which were made mandatory by the UAE for work visas from 1 April, had been postponed until further notice, according to sources on 1 April. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation source was quoted by Gulf News as saying that a decision was issued by the Cabinet to suspend temporarily the security background checks of overseas workers who apply for new work visas. A timeframe has not been set by the Cabinet as to when it will resume the security inspection, the source said. No reason was stated as to why they were suspended now. Beginning from 4 February, the UAE Government commenced security background checks of overseas workers who were applying for new work visas in UAE. Saif Al Suwaidi, an undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, was quoted by Gulf News as saying that the main authority assigned with the task of implementing the Cabinet decision on security background checks was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Other bodies assisting in enforcing the measure were the Ministry of Human Resources and the Ministry of Interior. A circular was issued by the MoHRE (Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation) in this regard to all Tasheel centres which were processing employment visas and work permits. It was confirmed by Tasheel officials that a circular was received from the MoHRE. Meanwhile, Dubai’s Indian Consulate tweeted that they confirmed the receipt of the communication from the Government of UAE that good conduct certificate was temporarily suspended for the work visa. Earlier, on 19 February, an announcement was made that domestic labourers from Indonesia and the Philippines need not submit the certificates until June 2018 when they apply for a work visa. If you are looking to work in the UAE, talk to Y-Axis, the world’s No.1 immigration and visa consultancy, to apply for a visa.