Questions & Answers
Employment termination & Cancellation of residence visas
I was recently terminated from work. My employment contract with the company, signed in March 2012, states clearly: on the resignation date of your employment, the employee shall remain under the work and residency visa of the company for a period of 3 months effective from the date of resignation or termination.
However, the company informed me that the recent changes to the law in the UAE since my contract was signed states that cancellation of employment visa and residency should be done within one month and that those changes supersede the wording in my contract.
Is this true? Or the wording in my contract is still valid?
Please advise.
Your employer is right. Upon termination of employment, a residence visa has to be cancelled on the last day at the job, after all employment benefits have been paid out. The employee has one month's grace period after visa cancellation to exit the country.
The Immigration Authorities nevertheless do allow companies to keep staff on the visa for a longer period but this is subject to limitations. In other words, this privilege is given provided it is used for only a specific number of employees.
Speak to your employer again in a nice way, explain the difficulties you will have if your visa is cancelled immediately. An extension is done on a trust basis as technically you will still be their responsibility albeit not working at their premises.
