According to the Khaleej times report an Indian family having seven family members received four passports this Monday after living illegally in UAE for the last 30 years. UAE has launched a visa amnesty scheme for the illegal expats earlier this year
Madhusudhanan, 60 years old father manage to get the passports of four of his children while the eldest one remains with no lawful documents till yet. He told Khaleej times that they are very relieved to hear the news as he and his children don’t have to live in the fear anymore.
We were living like prisoners in our own home: He added that his children were living like prisoners in their own home since the last three decades. Now they can live as free citizens and follow their dreams of getting the jobs in UAE. It seems that they are reborn.
The four children who have received the passports can now apply for the work permit after receiving confirmation from Shri Prem Chand, consul of Passport, Attestation and Community Affairs, and Welfare at the Indian Consulate in Dubai
Madhusudhanan came to UAE as a blue-collar worker in 1979 and married a Sri Lankan girl Rohini in 1988. Both had five children Ashwathy, 29; Sangeetha, 25; Shanthi, 23; Gauri, 22; and Mithun, 21. According to the expat parents, they found themselves out of the jobs many times during this tenure.
The unemployment phases they faced really discouraged them from applying the passports of their children who were born in UAE. After finally getting success, the four younger children’s passports got expired in 2012 while they continue to live in the country without the residence visas or any other valid documents.
The eldest daughter Ashwathy has not received her passport yet. She will first have to get her registration done in UAE as she was born in Al-Ain. After getting that registration she can apply for her passport. Madhusudhanan told Khaleej Times that his wife’s passport is still in process in the Sri Lankan consulate.
The family got the media attention due to the condition in which the family was living. Many people contacted them also offering them jobs. The children of the family never went to school and their mother homeschooled them.
The media coverage this family received grabbed the attention of the Indian consulate officials also who then helped them in the documentation as requested by the family.
UAE Amnesty Scheme: In August this year, UAE launched an amnesty scheme –first announced in June- that would be helping the illegal expats living in UAE to legalize their status.
According to the UAE government website, the illegal expats under this amnesty scheme can exit the country without paying any fines or facing jail or getting a ban. They are given the option to rectify their status by getting a new sponsored valid visa. This was a three months program and it will end on October 31.
Hundreds of illegal expats came up on the first day to take advantage of this scheme. This is the third amnesty scheme of its sort in the past decade. Over 342,000 residents applied in the visa amnesty scheme in 2007 while this figure was 60,000 in 2012 and 2013.
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