Residents staying out of the UAE for over 6 months can ‘reactivate’ their visas

Emaduddin Khalil, Staff Reporter

A number of typing centres accredited by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP) stated that a new service was added to the entry permit transactions for those staying outside the country for more than 6 months.

The new service enables residents to have their residence visas reactivated and to enter the country with the same residence visas, subject to the ICP’s approval.

The typing centres affirmed that the entry permit application was activated since last Friday and covered all types of residence visas, noting that the holder of a UAE residence visa who stayed abroad for more than 6 months can apply for the entry permit, which, once approved, would enable him to enter the country again with the same residence.

Applying for an entry permit for those who stay outside the country for more than 6 months requires each one of them to submit copies of his Emirates ID and passport and to attach the reason for the delay in entering the country during that period.

They further said that this service appears only for customers abroad, who stayed abroad for 6 months.

Earlier, the ICP confirmed that a sponsored person must not stay outside the UAE for more than 6 months; otherwise, his residence visa would be automatically invalidated.

The ICP has outlined some exceptions that allow a resident to stay outside the UAE for more than 6 months and still enable him to maintain the validity of his residence visa in the country.

These include a foreign wife sponsored by her Emirati husband and a resident who works for a government entity and his companion, who the entity sent abroad for medical treatment, in which case a medical report approved by the Ministry of Health and Prevention or other approved health authorities must be submitted.

They also include the domestic workers accompanying a student who went to study abroad or a person who went for medical treatment abroad as well as the domestic workers accompanying members of diplomatic and consular missions who represent the UAE abroad together with the employees of these missions who hold residence visas in the UAE.

Other exceptions include public sector employees who are sent by a government entity to attend training or specialised courses as well as those who work in employers’ offices abroad and their families who hold valid residence visas in the UAE.

Students residing in the UAE who travel abroad to study at a university are also included in the exceptions (in accordance with the provisions of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs-Dubai).