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Nice thread you have started..Here is some news about Immigration visa.

Source : Gulf News

Immigration & Visas

Move to ensure decent housing By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter Published: August 20, 2008, 23:44 Abu Dhabi: Federal authorities in Abu Dhabi have announced everyone in the UAE applying to sponsor their family to come here for the first time will need to produce a copy of their tenancy contracts. "People will have to show tenancy contracts when applying for residence visas for their family for the first time, as well as during its renewal," Brigadier Nasser Al Awadi Al Minhali, acting director-general of the Federal Naturalisation and Residency Department (FNRD), told Gulf News. The contract should either be in the name of the sponsor or in the name of the company where he works. It could also be in the name of a close relative of the applicant. The move comes as a measure to ensure that applicants who wish to sponsor their family have proper accommodation. Though the new regulation applies to all the emirates, it is understood that not all the Naturalisation and Residency departments have started implementing it. The Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) does not ask for tenancy contracts for residence visa. The regulation is enforced by the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department, who now demand a contract duly attested by the Sharjah Municipality. Financially capable Lieutenant Colonel Salim Ali Mazaini, head of the visa section at the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department, told Gulf News the rule has been introduced to ensure that only those who are financially capable of providing decent accommodation can bring their families to the emirate. "We are not insisting that the tenancy contract should be in the applicant's name. The contract can be in the name of close relatives also, like a brother, sister or father-in-law," said Mazaini. Typing centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai said the contract is not being demanded for sponsoring families, but only when applying for residence visas for relatives such as parents. "Right now, officials only insist on the contract if one is applying to sponsor parents, in-laws, relatives or domestic helpers," said the owner of a typing centre in Dubai. Tawfiq, an employee of a typing centre in Abu Dhabi, said: "We have submitted some applications but they have not been asking for the rent contract." Meanwhile, a Dubai resident said his application to sponsor his mother in law was rejected since he lived in a single bedroom apartment. "The application was rejected because we do not live in a two bedroom flat," he said, declining to be identified.

Undue price rise during Ramadan is unacceptable

Gulf News Published: August 20, 2008, 23:44

With Ramadan nearly upon us, it is noticeable that some retailers are already increasing their prices for all sorts of commodities. As always, it is difficult to determine whether the increases are the consequence of the escalating costs of raw materials and foodstuffs, combined with fuel surcharges, or if traders are looking for an excuse - Ramadan - to put their prices up, in common with previous years. With the average shopper not knowing the reason behind price increases, it becomes very easy for traders to take advantage of shoppers at this time. In an endeavour to counter the seemingly annual trend by merchants to put up their prices, the Ministry of Economy has warned retailers that any undue rises imposed upon the public by traders will result in investigation by the ministry and, if deemed unreasonable, be subject to penalty, the ultimate consequence of which could be the foreclosure of the business. The ministry has in previous years warned retailers against exploitation of their customers, but with so many traders and so few ministry staff to check commodity prices, it has proven difficult to ensure an effective control over the market. Which is why this year the ministry is calling upon members of the public to report any instances where they believe they are being unreasonably charged for items that only shortly before were showing a much reduced price. Of course, it is true that the UAE believes that market forces should prevail, but sadly many merchants are known to take matters into their own hands and endeavour to reap extra profits while there are shortages of supply or the demand is particularly high, such as during Ramadan. Such practices make it very hard for ministry staff to monitor effectively, and also create a bad name for honest traders in the country.

New medical centre in Dubai to scan 5,000 applications a day

Source: Gulf News 02/11/08

Dubai: A 5,000-capacity, one-stop residency medical fitness centre is likely to open within the next few weeks, hopefully ending the chaos following the announcement of new laws in July. Officials from the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) will also have an office at the same centre for speedy processing of employment visas, Gulf News has learnt. The UAE has barred municipality clinics and private medical centres from conducting medical fitness certification tests, required for residency and work visas. The decision saw a decline in the number of medical centres allowed to conduct the tests from 14 to just 8 in Dubai, causing massive congestion at the designated medical centres and frustration among the applicants. Maisa Al Bustani, director of medical fitness at the Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS), told Gulf News the new residency medical fitness centre was almost ready to open."It will likely be open before the end of the year, maybe well before it. We're at the finishing stages," she said. "We just need to test it. We don't want the system to collapse [when we open]," she added. The centre will be located at Sonapur, in Al Ghusais, and will also house immigration officials to process visa applications quickly. DOHMS expects the centre to process 5,000 applications daily. Medical centres under DOHMS are able to process only 700 applications per shift and a total of 3,000 daily. These centres include Satwa and Al Safa primary healthcare centres and Maktoum Hospital. With the opening of the new centre, the capacity will increase to 8,000 applications daily. The new medical residency laws also added Hepatitis B to the deportable diseases list, which already includes HIV/AIDS and turberculosis. Until the new centre becomes operative, lost days and hours have become part and parcel of the ordeal of undergoing the mandatory residency medical fitness tests. The number of people coming in for medical tests per shift is far more than 700, as evident from the long queues. Many expatriates Gulf News met complained of long hours of waiting, with some fearing they may not get to do the test at all that day. Ordeal Puranprasad Gupta from Nepal, a cleaner at a telecommunications company, told Gulf News he had to wait for hours before he could join the queue at Satwa Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) for his medical fitness examination. "I came here at 9am, but the place was already full. I couldn't get in the queue. I have to wait till 3pm. I can't get in before that," he said. He added he was tired of waiting in the hot, humid weather. Dozens of people were in the same boat, arriving in the morning, only to be told later that the centre would not accommodate any more for that shift. John Anthony, a construction worker from India, who had come with 20 others for the tests, told Gulf News: "We came at 11.30am, but there was no room. So we will have to wait until 3pm." VIP tests service Those who want to avoid long queues can avail the VIP tests service at Al Safa Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), but for a price - the fee for one test being as high as Dh690. Dr Ahmad Kalban, director of the Safa PHC, told Gulf News the centre received about 70 people daily. He added the centre was seeking to process the applications even faster. "Maybe next week, we will have immigration officials at the centre. That way people will get their visas immediately [as] in three hours. Everything will be ready," Dr Kalban said.