The Ministry of Labour in the United Arab Emirates has revealed further plans to improve options for expatriate workers.
Following previous announcements that expat workers could increase the length of their labour cards and also move between employers with greater ease, they have now announced that the cut off age for expat workers will be increased to 65 from the previous 60.
As of this month over 60's are allowed to apply for work permits. Humaid bin Dimas, Assistant Undersecretary, Ministry of Labour for Labour Affairs, spoke recently about the permits. He also explained the new pricing systems that were being put in place: “The ministry will unify fees for issuing work permits for those until the age of 65. This is in accordance with the classification of categories and new facilities. The fee for renewal of labour card for a period of two years will be Dh300 for the first category. The fee for second category employees, which include three levels, will be Dh600, Dh1,500 and Dh2,000 respectively.”
Mr bin Dimas added:”Employees under the third category will have to pay Dh5,000 for renewing their labour cards. Similarly, a unified fee of Dh5,000 will be applicable for issuance of labour cards for those more than 65 years with a validity of two years.”