UAE considers new faster residence visa system

Legal

Ministry of Interior meet to consider alternative voucher options to speed up process

The UAE's Ministry of Interior (MoI) is studying a proposal to do away with residence visa stamping on passports of expatriates. Currently, all UAE residents are required to stamp their passports with the residence visa.

The proposal was discussed during a meeting of the directors-general of the residency and foreigners affairs departments of the MoI.

They reviewed the necessary procedures and alternatives for doing away with the stamping procedure. The proposal is designed to achieve the objectives of the MoI to boost its smart services offerings.

The ministry is in the process of introducing a smart system aimed at reducing the waiting times for the overall visa process.

The move will help residents avoid the need to visit a service centre personally to get their visas stamped, said the MoI. By doing away with the need to do so completely, the process can be made smart "in collaboration with the ministry's partners". It can be offered as per the "best international standards within a unified system".

The meeting also reviewed the results of a smart visa processing system that was launched in Ajman recently on a trial basis. The system reduced the time from applying for a visa to receiving it by 50 per cent.