Big boost to governance in UAE: Work permit, residency visa processing time reduced to 5 days
UAE work visa processing time reduced
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has now reduced the time to process work permits and residency visas from 30 days to five days across the country. On Tuesday (Jun 11), the Arab nation launched the second phase of the Work Bundle platform, an initiative undertaken by several government ministries and federal authorities. The aim of this portal is to fast-track the hiring of new employees for business owners and private corporations, and the pre-renewal of work permits for existing employees.
It is to be noted that the new platform brings together several government bodies and departments – including the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security, Emirates Health Services, Abu Dhabi Department of Health and the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority – in an effort to foster more agile and effective government.
Key features of the Work Bundle platform
- Five service platforms have now been reduced to one single platform.
- This single platform now offers eight services to the applicants.
- The new platform eliminated the need to submit 16 documents in place of just five under the new regime. Also, 15 steps were reduced to just five.
- Thanks to the platform, seven required visits were reduced to only two.
Service rolled out in all seven Emirates
The first phase of the Work Bundle platform was launched in April in Dubai only.
“The initial launch of the Work Bundle platform witnessed a strong response from companies,” said Khalil Khoori, undersecretary for Human Resources Affairs at the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
Now, the service has been rolled out in all seven Emirates. The new platform will cater to 600,000 companies and more than seven million workers in the country and abroad.
“Before this service, multiple documents had to be submitted to different departments. Now, all necessary information is accessible through a single platform,” said Khoori.
UAE's Ministry of Human Resources said that the third phase of the platform will be launched in the coming days and cover domestic workers.
For now, the employees and corporations can access the platform on the website workinuae.ae but a mobile app will also be made available soon.
(With inputs from agencies)