The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

The Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi has advised all Indian nationals whose visas have expired before March 1 to avail the UAE government’s visa fine waiver scheme for all foreign residents and leave the country without paying any fines till Aug.17.

In May, the UAE government had decided to exempt all visa violators from all fines if they decide to return to their respective countries within three months, starting from May 18.

All such cases of Indian nationals are required to be approved by the competent UAE authorities and to be coordinated through the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi for people residing in the emirate of Abu Dhabi or whose visas were issued from Abu Dhabi.

Similarly, the Consulate General of India will serve Indian expatriates residing in or holding visa issued from Dubai and Northern Emirates of Sharjah, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Ajman.

The concerned persons need to send an application, including details of their passport, local contact number, email address, visa copy with supporting documents to ‘ca.abudhabi@mea.gov.in’ for Abu Dhabi cases and to ‘cons2.dubai@mea.gov.in’ for Dubai and Northern Emirates Cases.

If people are not able to scan or send documents by email, they are advised to drop their applications in the prescribed format in the drop boxes outside Indian embassy of the consulate for this purpose. Copy of passport (first, last and visa page) and phone number etc are required.  In case of visit visa, a copy of the visa should also be enclosed.

It should be sent at least seven working days before the intended date of travel to India.

In case, someone does not have his passport in possession, he can approach the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi or the Indian Consulate in Dubai for issuance of a Passport or an Emergency certificate, as the case may be, before applying for the visa fine waiver.

The Indian missions will ensure that these applications are forwarded to the UAE authorities at the earliest for processing and will inform the concerned persons by phone or email once their request of waiver or visa fines are approved by the UAE authorities after which they should leave the country at the earliest possible.