The Dubai Chamber is in talks with its counterparts in other
emirates to overturn a controversial ruling from the UAE federal government
that has effectively reduced expatriate residence visas from three years to two.
The Ministry of Labour announced in December that labour
card validity would be reduced from January this year, which has had a knock-on
effect on residence visas.
“As the private sector, the position is that we are not that
happy with this change and we would like to see a change back to the old
times,” Dubai Chamber director general Hamad Buamim told Arabian Business.
“We have put a paper to the Ministry of Labour and we are
meeting the minister to talk more about this.”
Indicating that the ruling added “an extra cost and burden
on businesses”, Buamim also revealed that the issue had been discussed at a
meeting last week, which all the UAE chambers of commerce had attended.
“We agreed two or three issues – and this was one of them,
about the Ministry of Labour,” he added.
The director general also stated that the Dubai Chamber
would prefer labour card validity to be extended rather than shortened.
When questioned as to whether it was likely that the ruling would
be overturned, Buamim replied: “All the governments in the UAE listen quite
well – HH Sheikh Mohammed [bin Rashid Al Maktoum] said once that even if there
is a law that we pass today, if it is wrong, we are ready to relook at it
tomorrow.
“So I believe that the prime minister stated this clearly,
and it empowers us, as one of the entities responsible for the private sector
to challenge such laws. Most of the laws and policies we have discussed ahead
of time.
“This wasn’t a law, this was actually a ministerial
decision, and I believe that they looked at it from certain perspectives that
we as the private sector, we don’t agree with,” the director general said.
In December, the Ministry of Labour defended its ruling by
saying that it would lower the time that private-sector workers are obliged to
spend with one employer, and that it would create “a positive impact on the
labour market”.
The Dubai Chamber is the body charged with overseeing the
interests of the private sector in the emirate.
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