Dubai clears 5.7 million visa applications online until year ending August 2017

About 5.7 million visit visa and residency applications were granted in Dubai through the online service system for the year ending August 2017, the GDRFA (General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs) officials stated on 23 September. The latest figures reveal that many large Dubai businesses were using the online service to grant their employees residency visas, helping cut down customer visits to GDRFA-Dubai branches. Major-General Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, director-general of GDRFA-Dubai, was quoted by the Gulf News as saying that shifting to the electronic platform was part of their efforts to improve digital services for the customers’ convenience. SignUp for Free Counselling According to him, the directorate dealt with 5.7 million applications until the end of August 2017. They included 4.6 million entry permits for employees for firms and 1.9 million residency visas. Al Merri said that they were continuously looking to embrace the latest technological standards with the intent of saving their clients time and efforts. He said they were abiding by their wise leadership’s ambitious vision to bring down the number of clients in all service centres of the government by 80 percent through 2018, a goal that they were aspiring to accomplish as part of their commitment to directives given by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. He added that they would achieve the goal of the plan of Smart Dubai for 2021 to make Dubai, the world’s happiest country. According to Al Merri, in the past, big companies needed time and effort to complete their work such as issuing visa permits and issuing and renewing residency visas for their employees, with which the online service has, however, reduced time and expenses. The companies were completing their transactions at their own office desks without having to visit headquarters or any branches of the GDRFA. To use the GDRFA service, it was required that companies registered for the online systems before they could use them, he said. He stated that the creative government does away with the routine to provide best services and bring about best living and satisfactory levels for the citizens of Dubai. Maj-Gen Al Merri lauded his officers for completing the online transactions of the companies by working 24 hours a day. The GDRFA processed 5,700,203 smart permit applications via the online service, including 4,609,228 visa permits and 1,090,975 residency permits. If you are looking to work in Dubai, get in touch with Y-Axis, a prominent company for immigration services, to apply for a work visa.