UAE cuts work, residency visa process from 30 to 5 days

In a significant move, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) has announced to reduce work permits and residency visas' processing time from 30 days to five days, Khaleej Times reported.

Documents required to show has also been cut from 16 days to five.

The UAE government has launched a "Work Bundle" platform to ease the hiring of new employees for business owners and private companies.

In addition, the platform will also make the visa renewal process for existing employees easier.

Work Bundle under the Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme provides a unified platform designed to streamline application procedures for employers.

It is estimated that the platform will help save approximately 62 million working hours at government offices, as well as cut 25 million visits to offices.

The Work Bundle was launched in March and has been divided into three phases.

In the first phase, the platform was made available to Dubai-based companies in all seven emirates.

In the second phase, the Work Bundle will cover about 600,000 companies and more than seven million workers.

The third phase, according to MOHRE, will cover domestic workers.

Currently, Work Bundle is only accessible via its website workinuae.ae, however a mobile app will soon be made available.