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Dr
Haidar Al Yousuf, the director of health funding at Dubai Health Authority,
said strict enforcement is now taking place in partnership with the General
Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs. Pawan Singh / The National
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Applying for visa now
requires medical insurance coverage. The mandatory insurance
scheme linking application for a visa in Dubai to medical insurance is now in
place, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has confirmed. Residents applying for a
new visa or visa renewal must be able to demonstrate that they are covered by
medical insurance, unless they are part of the last phase of the rollout of the
scheme, which looks at a deadline of June 2016.
Employees
of companies contracting more than 100 employees must comply with the new
rules, which are in place since the beginning of this month.
Business
Daily report continues:
Medical
certificate
When
applying for a new visa or visa renewal, a medical certificate must be presented.
The
medical certificate is a document provided by the insurance company stating
that a person is covered by medical insurance, explained Haidar Al Yousuf,
Director of Health Funding, DHA.
“All
insurance companies should be able to provide this document free of charge.
“When
visiting the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA),
this document must be presented along with other documents required for a visa
or visa renewal.
“When
applying online, there is an option to upload the document when submitting the
application,” he continued to explain.
According
to the director, there was a minor change made to the system after the new
rules were in place.
“Whereas
the system first asked for the document with an upload option reading ‘other
documents’, it now reads ‘scan of the health certificate’.”
However,
al Yousuf assured that as employees are sponsored by their respective
companies, the application procedure will be carried out by the company.
On
the same note, the company is responsible for the provision of medical
insurance, and if this is not provided on time, any potential fine for
overstaying would come to the company, he explained.
Visitors
to Dubai
Visitors
to the emirate will also be required to have a medical insurance coverage upon
entering Dubai, however, details of this part of the scheme are yet to be
announced.
“There
will be a comprehensive system in place and the details of this system will be
announced at a later stage.”
Currently,
visitors applying for a visa through the GDRFA are already required to purchase
medical insurance upon purchasing a visa.
For
more info: Visitor health insurance cover a windfall for insurance firms
However,
this rule does not apply to everybody, as some individuals are sponsored by
organisations or do not require at all.
“There
are other groups that are currently not covered by this rule, but they will be
under the new system,” said al Yousuf.
The
official date for the linking of the visa to medical insurance was August 1,
2015. However, the GDRFA and the typing centres employees in the emirate were
not aware of the new rule when asked by Emirates 24/7 on August 3.
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