In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there are some businesses that have been unsuccessful in acquiring work visas for prospective employees of various South Asian nationalities.
When a company that has a significant number of employees who are of a given country submits an application for fresh visas for individuals of the same nationality, a notification from the authorities appears, requesting that the company "achieve demographic diversity while hiring."
Providing visas for some nationalities
Visa specialists and agencies, on the other hand, have absolutely disputed rumors that have gone viral that the United Arab Emirates has stopped providing visas to Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis who are currently in the country.
In response to a request made by a business service center in Dubai to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MoHRE), the MoHRE informed the center that firms are required to hire individuals from a variety of nationalities. It is necessary for them to make certain that the "first twenty percent of available quotas in the establishments are distributed among individuals of various nationalities." The fact that this technique is not identified with a certain country is something that should be brought to your attention. It is connected to the demographic diversity of the businesses.
In the event that businesses receive the message to achieve diversity, they were instructed to pursue the possibility of employing a worker of a different nationality.
Conditions for obtaining a visa
When KT called the call center of the ministry, a representative confirmed that the first twenty percent of a company's personnel must be comprised of people from ethnic and cultural backgrounds. "For instance, if a company submits an application for a visa for a specific individual and it is denied on the grounds of diversity, then the company is required to hire someone of a different nationality for the same role in order to satisfy diversity requirements," she explained. According to the statement, "It is not applicable to any specific nationality and is the same for everyone across the board."
In addition, she noted that once the diversity goal of twenty percent was reached, businesses were free to hire people of any country.
Providing visas to Indians
Firosekhan, the managing director of Profound Business Service, which is situated in Dubai, provided the following explanation in response to reports that were made on social media that the authorities had stopped providing visas to Indians: "I got visa for an Indian applicant at a company that has a diverse workforce." On the other hand, when I attempted to obtain one for a candidate at a company that employed a vast majority of Indians, I was met with the message that stated, "Achieve diversity."
An executive from a different business center stated that the United Arab Emirates seek to increase the amount of diversity in the workplace.
Many businesses in the United Arab Emirates have a significant number of staff who are of Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi descent. According to Abdul Gafoor, general manager of Al Mas Businessmen Service, a company that already has a significant number of employees who are of these three nationalities is not permitted to submit additional visa applications for individuals who are of the same nations.
As of Thursday, this rule did not apply to freezones in any way. It was said by him that none of the businesses that were operating out of free zones had experienced any difficulties in obtaining work permits. To this point, it appears to be something that is solely applicable to enterprises that are located on the mainland.
A three-tier classification system was established by the Ministry of Human Resources and Environment in the year 2022. In order for businesses to obtain a better classification, which would make them eligible for reductions on work permits and transfer fees, one of the conditions that they needed to meet was to achieve diversity in their employment practices.
To make the social and cultural variety of the United Arab Emirates "an integral part of the core values of the companies in the private sector," the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MoHRE) has stated that the policy of diversity intends to achieve. To achieve this goal, they will ensure that their workforce is comprised of individuals from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, provide fair employment opportunities, and empower citizens of the United Arab Emirates in accordance with the applicable percentages of Emiratization.
