ABU DHABI // Thousands of Nepalese residents will face problems travelling or become illegal residents if they fail to apply for new digital passports by May.
The country’s embassy has issued over 60,000 machine readable passports (MRP), however there are around 300,000 Nepalese people living in the country.
Many chose to obtain their MRP when they return home on holiday but the embassy says there are still large numbers who face becoming illegal residents and lose their jobs “if [they do] not wake up from their slumber”.
“If Nepalese [residents] fail to get their digital passports before May they wouldn’t be able to renew their visas as per the UAE rules of six months validity of passports,” Dhananjay Jha, Nepalese ambassador to the UAE, said on Sunday.
“So many Nepalese still need to convert their old passports with digital ones in the UAE.
“We can’t say exactly how many still need to apply here as many would have got it done back home,” Mr Jha said.
“But the rate at which we are receiving applications, it would not cover all [residents]. Up to 300 gather for the purpose every day,” he said.
The embassy requires three months to convert an old document to digital ones.
By November 24, all handwritten passports need to be converted to machine-readable passports as per the deadline set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which is phasing out all non-MRPs.
“Ten months to the deadline and we issue 3,000 MRP a month meaning 30,000 or 35,000 in 10 months. So thousands still would be left to renew,” Mr Jha said, who is hoping the rest will obtain their MRPs from back home.
Whereas there are a large number of Nepalese who realised late the seriousness of the issue and approached the mission after their visas expired weeks back and handwritten passports about to expire in two months.
Dubai factory-worker Divendra Guru’s passport is only valid for two months and his visa expired on January 7. He applied for his new passport on Sunday.
“I have also applied for a temporary passport for a year so that I can renew my visa otherwise a huge ‘overstaying without visa’ fine will be levied on me,” Mr Guru, 39, said.
“I would get a temporary passport today, while new one I would receive after three months. Then both will be attached until visa validity.”
Surendra Bahadur, 32, who works as a waiter, said his passport and visa both expire in three months.
“My company told me to apply now, if I don’t get it in time the company [said it] would pay the fines.”
“I am very scared that both would expire same time. My company should ask me to do this before.
“The company assured me that they would pay any fines if they were imposed but still I am concerned,” Mr Bahadur said.
The ambassador said, “I think company’s HR departments who keep passport are not informed about the deadline and think that it’s valid until next year.”
anwar@thenational.ae
