Photo from the archive of «Zagranitsa»
As is known, in all countries the authorities are primarily concerned with employment of their citizens, requiring that an entrepreneur resort to the services of foreigners only if he has not found a suitable worker from among locals. The United Arab Emirates, and in particular the emirate of Dubai, are no exception in this sense.
In August of this year, the country's construction companies appealed to the Ministry of Labor with a request: specifically for them to reconsider the recently established quotas for hiring UAE citizens. The fact is that quite recently a decision was made to carry out in the shortest possible time the emiratization of the economy and industry of the UAE - by hiring at least 2% of employees from among the country's citizens in all companies. For construction companies, this turned out to be a completely impossible requirement.
Representatives of the construction industry also turned to the fourth estate - the newspaper «Khaleej Times». A UAE citizen, Abdel Ibrahim Al Tamimi, owner and managing director of Future Home Contracting, told journalists that he cannot hire UAE citizens because there simply are no workers with construction specialties among them, and that the construction industry will, as before, depend on the Asian labor market. Among UAE citizens there are not even enough civil engineers. Anyone with a diploma of such qualification would prefer to open his own company rather than work in labor-intensive positions outdoors for low wages.
- Apart from me, my company employs two engineers, a secretary, a driver and 32 workers; I cannot offer my compatriots a job in any of these positions, - Mr. Tamimi told the newspaper's correspondent.
A similar point of view is expressed by a representative of the large company Fujeira National Construction:
- Our company employs 4,200 workers and employees. Of these, only 92 specialists are administrative staff. And to reach the required 2%, all workers employed in administrative and engineering positions would have to be UAE citizens. But even that would not be enough. Neither the company itself nor the organization specially created for the employment of UAE citizens (it is called Tanmia) is able to find qualified specialists among UAE citizens in the required quantity.
An administrative manager of an even larger company, who wished to remain unnamed, said that his company employs 10 thousand people. Obviously, the company will not be able to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Labor - and will fall into category «B» or «C» under the recently adopted classification. That is, it will pay fees to the Ministry of Labor at a rate two to three times higher than the contributions paid by companies of category «A». As a result, the company's expenses for hiring and maintaining workers will significantly increase, and it will have to reconsider its prices for building houses. The cost and price of constructed facilities will rise, which is unlikely to contribute to the growth of investment in the country's economy.
Why are we telling all this in such detail? To make it clear: in Dubai, at least 98% of the workforce are foreigners. Among them there are many of our compatriots working in the most diverse fields and positions.
It is difficult to say exactly how many Russian-speaking people work in Dubai's fields. However, their considerable number is evidenced by the fact that a Russian general education school has been operating here for several years, whose graduates receive two certificates - one of the Russian model and one of Dubai. Moreover, it is known that not all children study at the Russian school - some prefer English and American ones. But they attend Russian school for additional classes - in Russian language and literature.
The local community has favorite hangout spots, but they have not acquired a Russian store, of which there are many in America, Israel, England and Germany. And that is understandable. The people working here are young, enterprising, alien to sentimental quirks. A jar of real pickles or condensed milk with the familiar blue label does not evoke any awe in them.
So how does one get a job in Dubai?
The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Immigration have developed a special procedure for obtaining a work permit and a work visa for a foreigner (employment visa), and then a residence visa (residence permit).
Having decided to hire a particular foreigner, an entrepreneur must submit the following documents to the authorities:
- two applications for a work visa on Ministry of Labor forms;
- an original and a copy of the company's registration card (these cards are received by a company registered in the UAE and entitled to hire employees - both UAE citizens and foreigners);
- a copy of the commercial license;
- a copy of the passport of the prospective employee;
- documents confirming the worker's qualifications (this requirement applies only to specialties that require certain education and qualifications, for example, manager, engineer, etc.).
Obviously, all documents except the last item are provided by the employer. A potential employee of a Dubai company is required to have a passport and a diploma. The passport is clear, but the diploma (or an equivalent certificate) must be certified - and only in the order specified below. First at home: at a notary, then at the Ministry of Justice, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and finally at the embassy of the United Arab Emirates. Then, in the United Arab Emirates, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that country.
In the Emirates, documents will need to be translated into Arabic by translators specially licensed by the Ministry of Justice (legal translator). If all the above documents are available, the local Ministry of Labor will accept them and issue a return card indicating the day on which one should return to the ministry for an answer. Usually the whole process takes about two weeks. If the decision is positive, an employment visa is issued.
It is precisely with such a visa that a future employee must enter the United Arab Emirates for employment. The employment visa allows staying in the country for 60 days. During this time, it is necessary to conclude an employment contract, obtain the employee's work card and his resident visa.
It is important that the holder of a tourist visa, transit visa, or visit visa is not entitled to work in the country. If this provision is violated, both the employee and the employer are subject to punishment.