Looking back at 2018: UAE's 5-month amnesty period

Illegal residents and residency visa violators let out a sigh of relief when the UAE declared amnesty at the start of August 2018.

Nine service centres were set up across the country for those looking to correct their visa statuses without paying hefty fines or facing re-entry bans.

Senior officials such as Major General Mohammed Al Marri, Director General of the GDRFA-Dubai, encouraged overstayers to take advantage of the scheme.

Within the first six weeks of the amnesty period, centres across Dubai processed over 32,000 transactions, 165 of which were visa applications by people from war-torn countries.

Emmanuel was an undocumented expat from the Philippines. He was in good spirits while waiting in line to rectify his status at the Al Awir Centre in Dubai.

The amnesty scheme was initially meant to run for three months but was later extended to give individuals more time to regularise their status.