SHARJAH, 27 April 2004 — Employers in the UAE will no longer have the automatic right to impose a ban on highly skilled professionals leaving their employment unless they can prove that the employee has caused losses to the business or undermined their business interests, according to amendments to the regulations under consideration. Another expected measure is to prohibit the reissue of visit visas less than 30 days after the original departure.
In the past, immigration authorities used to impose an automatic employment ban on professionals leaving the country without referring to the employer. Employers will still have the right to impose a six-month ban on any employee who is fired or has resigned, but it will be their responsibility to apply for the ban. The professions include doctors, engineers, agriculture experts and advisers, qualified accountants and auditors, graduate administrative officers, electronic technicians, oil industry technicians, and aviation experts.
To have a ban imposed, the employer must prove he is not seeking the ban for the sake of “punishing” the former employee or for reasons other than directly related to the business. The drafted change was written by the General Naturalization and Residency Administration and will be submitted to the Ministry of Interior for final approval and then Cabinet endorsement, sources said.
A worker can have the ban lifted if it is proved that the sponsor sought the ban in the sole interest of punishing the worker.
The visit visa regulation change is aimed at discouraging workers from using it instead of getting an employment visa.
The proposed change does not apply to bona fide businessmen with a proven record of resources and business interests in the UAE.
