UAE visa amnesty helps overstayers return as legal residents with new jobs
UAE visa amnesty programme, from 1st September until 31st December, has been a boon to many workers facing legal and personal hardships.
This scheme has been an opportunity for some overstayers to regularise visas, go home and start a new life. These are the accounts of three foreigners who had hope thanks to the programme.
Karungi Caroline came to the UAE hoping for the best, in February 2017 and she got a job as a maid. At first, all her life was good – she loved her work, she had good employers. But then it got bad when, after working for a year, she didn’t get home to take annual leave as her passport had been stolen.
"I was ecstatic to have been invited to work in the UAE, I never thought that my happiness would last this long," said Caroline who was stuck in the UAE with more than Dh80,000 worth of fines.
Caroline couldn’t renew her visa without a passport even after she stayed with her employer and finished the two-year contract. Her employer tried to intervene a few times but nothing worked. Caroline went then to get help from an agent and got duped. The representative took her money and ran away.
Despaired, Caroline left Abu Dhabi and went to live with friends in Dubai. She worked odd jobs to make ends meet, sometimes making Dh500-Dh700 per month. ‘I never thought about what would happen to me. "I was scared and bleeding day in and day out," she said.
Her situation changed for the better when an Egyptian man named Omar Hussain saw her toiling away. He gave her a place to live and a job taking care of his two daughters, Roah and Hannah. "My daughters love her and they want her with us," Hussain said.
So did Omar, who worked feverishly to get Caroline out of her legal troubles, finally getting the Ugandan consulate in Dubai on board after months of trying. Omar then took Caroline to the ICP centre in Abu Dhabi where she received an outpass to return home and get a new passport.
Caroline left for Uganda on Monday evening and plans to come back to the UAE shortly. In three days I will have my new passport and I’ll go back and work," she said, and she was grateful for the UAE’s amnesty programme for allowing her to start again.
"Thank you UAE for this second opportunity. And I will never forget Hussain and his family, who came through for me when I was alone," she shared.
Returning after five years
Hannah Njoki Njau came to UAE in February 2019 with hope. She had been working as a nanny in Abu Dhabi, and after one year and a half she’d left her employer because of something else — without a passport. I went to live with a friend and got another job," she said.
But Njau’s visa ran out in February 2021 and she was an illegal resident. She couldn’t get a good paying job and had to pay fines of more than Dh50,000. Later, she took a job as a nanny in Sharjah, and made a living out of her tenuous position. ‘I was comfortable with my employer and they have been trying to get me regularised since 2021. But we couldn’t and my fine only grew," said Njau.
When the amnesty programme started in September, it was a salvation for Njau. Employers begged her to take the chance to rehabilitate her status in court. "They told me it was my best chance to return home, be with my family and come back with a new visa," Naju said.
Njau had been to the ICP office in Abu Dhabi to get an outpass and he is excited to be going home. ‘I have family waiting for me. I haven’t seen them in so long," she said. She’ll live in Kenya for three months and then go back to the UAE to start anew.
‘I didn’t know what to do’
Odo Ekene arrived in the UAE on a residence visa and started work at a construction company in Abu Dhabi. ‘Everything was OK until covid happened,’ Ekene told me of how his life changed. He got laid off in the pandemic and wanted to remain until he got a job.
But there was no work, and Ekene lost his legal rights, and he was fined more than Dh50,000. ‘I didn’t know what to do. I thought I would die in the UAE without seeing my family," he said.
Desperate, Ekene went to Dubai and worked odd jobs to make ends meet, but his case had yet to be sorted.
Ekene had gone to Dubai with a friend and taken odd jobs to live. When the UAE announcing the amnesty, he had hope. ‘I was so happy I could finally meet my family after three years of living in terror,’ he said.
Since his visa was associated with Abu Dhabi, Ekene went to that country to regularise it. "Last week I got my outpass, and then in a few hours I will be flying back to Nairobi to see my family," Ekene said.
His UAE employer said that he would be hired back with a fresh residence visa when he gets back. "I’ve received a second chance in this amnesty and the UAE has given me this opportunity very well," he said.
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