UAE to issue temporary work permits

In order to meet the shortage of expatriate workers, the UAE will issue temporary work permits for a six-month period, from today.

All companies in the country can now seek temporary work permits to facilitate the process of recruiting foreign manpower, said Obaid Rashid Al Zahmi, Assistant Under-secretary in the Ministry of Labour.

In the past, such permits were issued only to oil and energy firms.

The three-month temporary permit or 'mission visa' will cost Dh500. For a three-month extension of the permit, companies would have to pay an additional Dh500 along with a Dh3,000 bank guarantee, said Al Zahmi.

He says the permit is not expensive, and, according to him, it is, in fact, beneficial to all, as firms can check the credentials and the performance of the workers they have recruited. He added that workers' rights would also be protected.

Some sectors are reeling under staff shortages after more than 200,000 illegal workers left the country under a recent amnesty programme.

The mission visa will allow people to live and work in the UAE for up to six months.