# Work permit - American



## dathrilla (Jun 13, 2012)

Hello,

The law firm I will be working for in Dubai apparently started processing my work permit end of June. However, I haven't had any news since. Is it normal to take this long? Should I e-mail them about it or would I seem unusually keen?

Many thanks


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

dathrilla said:


> Hello,
> 
> The law firm I will be working for in Dubai apparently started processing my work permit end of June. However, I haven't had any news since. Is it normal to take this long? Should I e-mail them about it or would I seem unusually keen?
> 
> Many thanks


Nothing is "unusually keen"! You have already accepted the offer so its natural that you should be keen to join them! 
Email them - shouldn't take this long, but then the amount of time wildly varies from company to company and person to person. And it is Ramadan time.
I hope you did submit the attested degree required.


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## dathrilla (Jun 13, 2012)

Thank you for your reply.

They never asked me for any attested degree whatsoever...What is that exactly?


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

dathrilla said:


> Thank you for your reply.
> 
> They never asked me for any attested degree whatsoever...What is that exactly?


!!!
Are they actually processing your work permit??!!

Along with any residency application for a prospective employee, one of the documents needed to be submitted is the employee's degree certificate - since you are a lwyer you probably know about the legalisation etc. process to authenticate any document in the country of origin. So the degree needs to be attested in the USA by your concerned ministry/department, then the UAE Embassy in Usa, and then Ministry of foreign Affairs in UAE. [Assuming your degree is from USA]

If this has not been done, I doubt your visa is actually in process, unless your employer is very well connected to waive all such requirements. The other legal route when the attested degree is not required is when you are being brought into the country at a lower level job, like a labourer etc. which is hopefully not the case.

So call up your propsective line manager, and the HR person. Also, have you signed on a contract/offer letter yet?


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## dathrilla (Jun 13, 2012)

Wow...this is interesting!

The only thing they asked me to do was to scan my diploma, passport photo, and the passport itself.

Yes, I signed the contract and scanned it to them.

This was an e-mail received in the beginning of July : "We have started processing your visa. I shall let you know shortly when the process will be completed."

This is so weird!


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Is it an internal transfer or are you joining a new firm? I don't think you can get the visa without an attested degree, but who knows.
Call these guys up and find out.
and again, you have accepted the job so eagerness should be good !


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## dathrilla (Jun 13, 2012)

No, it'll be my first job in Dubai. I will send an e-mail right away, thank you very much for your help!


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## suzimack (Nov 29, 2011)

I got my work permit without supplying the attested degree. The only time it was actually requested was to sponsor my dependants. A scanned copy should be more than sufficient!


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## dathrilla (Jun 13, 2012)

suzimack said:


> I got my work permit without supplying the attested degree. The only time it was actually requested was to sponsor my dependants. A scanned copy should be more than sufficient!


Thank you for your input!


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

There are certain designations for visas that do not require an attested degree certificate - Archive Clerk for example. I don't have a degree and the job title on my visa is Office in Charge, which is as near as the company can find to match my job. You cannot get a visa with the title of Manager in it without a degree.

That doesn't, however, have anything to do with why your visa is taking so long. Email them and ask them what the situation is. It's got nothing to do with being over-keen. You have things you have to organise before you leave and, of course, you need to know.


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## dathrilla (Jun 13, 2012)

BedouGirl said:


> There are certain designations for visas that do not require an attested degree certificate - Archive Clerk for example. I don't have a degree and the job title on my visa is Office in Charge, which is as near as the company can find to match my job. You cannot get a visa with the title of Manager in it without a degree.
> 
> That doesn't, however, have anything to do with why your visa is taking so long. Email them and ask them what the situation is. It's got nothing to do with being over-keen. You have things you have to organise before you leave and, of course, you need to know.


Thank you for your kind answer. As a lawyer, I do actually have a few degrees :s lol . So thats what the whole issue is...I emailed my HR and she informed me that it's Ramadhan and things are slow...At the same time, I called the Labour Ministry myself and they had nothing to my name...


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

dathrilla said:


> Thank you for your kind answer. As a lawyer, I do actually have a few degrees :s lol . So thats what the whole issue is...I emailed my HR and she informed me that it's Ramadhan and things are slow...At the same time, I called the Labour Ministry myself and they had nothing to my name...


You are kind of between a rock and a hard place. I wouldn't necessarily believe HR but, then again, the MoL can also make mistakes. You could ring again tomorrow and someone else will give you a totally different answer (welcome to the sandpit ). I am sorry I cannot be more helpful but now knowing what you are coming here to do, then the one thing I would say is that they should be using the appropriate qualifications to obtain your visa otherwise I would not have thought you would be able to practice here. Not knowing much about the visa process for your profession, I wonder if you need a licence? It could be that what you do for a living makes the process longer, but I am only speculating.


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

The "shall let you know" is overrated 



dathrilla said:


> Wow...this is interesting!
> 
> The only thing they asked me to do was to scan my diploma, passport photo, and the passport itself.
> 
> ...


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