Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jul 1: A number of countries have announced lockdown on account of the coronavirus situation. As a result, non-resident Indians who were stuck at their hometowns during their visits to India, could not go back. They were fearful about the chances of their visa periods expiring and thereby loss of jobs.

The Arab countries have now extended the visa by three months. This has been reported by Arab Times and Gulf News.

Lockdown was announced in India on March 23 in order to have control over the coronavirus situation. People who had come to India were stuck. The international flights have not yet resumed operations. In normal course, people holding visas of a country lose the visas if they stay out of that country for over six months. Thousands of non-residents who had returned to India including Karnataka and Dakshina Kannada were worried about the prospects of their visas getting cancelled.

The chances of securing the same jobs again after losing them and getting fresh visas is fraught with risks. A large number of companies are likely to cut down jobs and hence use such cases to deny jobs. Now, with the visas having been extended online for three months, NRIs employed in Dubai, Kuwait and other countries, have heaved a sigh of relief.

For the extension of Dubai visas, documents can be uploaded by visiting the site, https://smart.gdrfad.gov.ae. After logging in, residence number (visa), country and date of birth should be provided and search should be initiated. Visa details are exhibited, after which travel details along with email ID should be provided. Visa, passport and emirates ID need to be uploaded in JPG, PDF formats. After 24 hours, information about extension of visa would be dispatched through email.

If the process cannot be completed immediately, the people can try again after four days, a release by the Emirates said. The release also said that GDRFA approval email copy should necessarily be brought when travelling abroad for employment.