Culture Test for Residency Visa by UAE

UAE National Flag

Non- residential people who wish to apply for residency visas for the United Arab Emirates will be supposed to pass a test about the local culture before their application gets approved. The idea came after the Federal National Council (FNC) suggested that expats should be well aware of the culture and traditions of United Arab Emirates before their application for visa. According to the First Deputy Speaker, FNC, Ahmed Shabeeb Al Dhahiri, a sound knowledge about culture and traditions of the Arab Emirates would definitely be a prime importance for the people who want to apply for visa in the near future. According to him, a sound knowledge of the same will make the visitor more compatible with the environment and therefore avoid any confusion or violation of any laws.

In October, a new committee would be set up this year for the development of strategies in the same regard which will comprise of members from the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Interior, Youth community and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It will produce a series of easy questions that will be containing a test that expats will be required to go through and pass for the sake of getting residency visas.

DUbai Airport

According to Al Dhahiri, “Too many cheap holidays tourists do not know anything about our culture. There are many nationalities and every resident needs to know something about this country. The objective of the cultural test is to educate expatriates on the customs, traditions and culture of the UAE, which would enable them to interact better with Emiratis. The committee will also establish a guide to the country’s traditions that will be issued to local embassies and consulates while the support of the media would also be sought to raise cultural awareness levels among expats.”

What does the country’s flag look like? What is the official religion of the country? These are the two instances of the types of questions; expats will have to answer soon after law is passed

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, a UAE based businessman, told The Media Line said, “I agree with the suggestion. In the past few months we have had a series of incidents in which expatriate residents have been caught doing inappropriate things in public such as sexual intercourse on a public beach.”

Any one who is a non resident and plans to work in the UAE or these six countries that constitute the Gulf Cooperation Council – Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, must apply for a residency visa in order to pursue their job in the UAE. The Gulf countries which possess oil based economy, heavily depend on expat employees working in the private sector in the United Arab Emirates, less than one percent of the population of the employees in such countries comprises of the locals.

The Gulf

Al Qassemi said, “A knowledge booklet or even a brief test would ensure that the local customs are adhered to. The Emirati national population can’t protect their identity considering the influx of foreigners without at least making them aware of the local sensitivities.”

A majority of the population of workers in the construction and real estate sector, flagship industries with continuous growth and new hiring with the growth of number and size of the projects, also comprises of the foreigners. However, due to the recent global recession, many expats decided to leave the country.  This also laid a great impact on the real estate sector. It was estimated that by the end of this year, only one-third of the apartments being constructed in the UAE will be occupied. A huge population of foreigners mean that the use of the native language, Arabic, becomes less frequent. With the decreased use of Arabic, some issues developed in the Emirates. While the use of Arabic language has been replaced to a great extent by English, some locals have begun using a hybrid tongue that blends Asian languages with Arabic.

It is just hoped that the law is implemented in a non-intrusive and non-forceful manner and that children and the elderly are exempted from the test.

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