# My Job is transfering me from a freezone visa to regular visa



## proshka (Sep 23, 2012)

HI All, 
so my boss said he was giving me a promotion 6 months into being employed with them, i am presently on JAFZA freezone visa and they are *cancelling this visa and switching me to a regular visa* as the promotion is for that company, both owned by my boss. 

My concern is this, i didnt know they would do this and believe i have to go through the whole visa process again (i believe this will affect my bank etc). Also they will cancel this visa and put the new one. 

Im a bit skeptical as my company doesnt put anything on paper so feeling a bit off. *How easy is it to transfer my freezone visa to a regular dubai visa*, and can it be done without actually cancelling my freezone visa first? 

Also isnt it kind of a downgrade to do this as ultimately the freezone visa is a better one. 
I am Very confused and we dont really have an HR department. 
Any advise would be greatly appreciated here.


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## s&s (Apr 9, 2012)

Since my husband has just gone through a similar process but from a normal visa to a free zone visa and can share that info with you but I'm not sure if its the same in your situation.

The new company applied,for approval for a new visa before cancelling the old one. Only Once the new visa was approved, the first visa was cancelled and then the new visa was stamped in his passport. 

The approval was valid for 2 months, which gives the new company time to stamp the new visa.

Hope that helps


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## proshka (Sep 23, 2012)

HI s&s
thanks for the info, will ask that they do do this, good idea. Since both companies are owned by the same person im hoping it will be a rather easy process. Did your husband have to re-do the entire visa process as in testing and x-rays? My visa is literally only about 4 months old, as i was on a work permit in the beginning, and i DREAD needles, had i knows this would have been the case i probably would not have taken this "promotion". Also was it a long process?


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## s&s (Apr 9, 2012)

Yes,

After the new visa approval you will need to do the whole medical thing again ie. blood and X-rays. Also then you need to do the typing for a new emirates ID. Take visa approval with you. 

Once that is done, hand that in with your passport and your visa approval and the new visa will be stamped in your passport.

Once you have your new visa in your passport, go back to emirates ID centre to scan visa so you can receive your updated emirates ID. 

Good luck


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## newexpat2013 (Jan 8, 2013)

Why cant the emirates ID be automatically updated......maybe it makes sense




s&s said:


> Yes,
> 
> After the new visa approval you will need to do the whole medical thing again ie. blood and X-rays. Also then you need to do the typing for a new emirates ID. Take visa approval with you.
> 
> ...


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

Make sure you have a document/contract that states this new visa is a continuation of your employment with the same company and your work for this company is deemed to have started on the original start date.

Otherwise, they might try to screw you out of 6 months of gratuity.


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

I don't think you have to do x-rays again, this only only for when people first arrive in the UAE. It'll just be the blood test.


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## s&s (Apr 9, 2012)

My husband had to do the X-ray again but who knows, maybe you won't have to.


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

newexpat2013 said:


> Why cant the emirates ID be automatically updated......maybe it makes sense


:rofl:

You have obviously not lived here long, if you are mixing up making sense and the process for doing anything here


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## fcjb1970 (Apr 30, 2010)

Chocoholic said:


> I don't think you have to do x-rays again, this only only for when people first arrive in the UAE. It'll just be the blood test.


I have had to do one for each of the three visas I have had


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

For a new visa, you still have to do the X ray. For a visa renewal (with the same company), no X Ray is required. 
To the OP I would like to reiterate Gavtek's point. Various labour law related items, including end of service benefits, and even labour bans are related to the time period you serve with the company. So it is important this is recorded. For example, if you serve less than 2 years, you get only 7 days of salary for every year in employment, while after 2 years it becomes 14 days of salary. And the time period is for employment under this company.

It seems strange to me that you would need a new visa just for a "promotion", but of course we don't have the details.


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

rsinner said:


> For a new visa, you still have to do the X ray. For a visa renewal (with the same company), no X Ray is required.


Random, I've changed company several times, still only ever had the initial x-ray when I first came here. Maybe it's only for certain nationalities.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Chocoholic said:


> Random, I've changed company several times, still only ever had the initial x-ray when I first came here. Maybe it's only for certain nationalities.


Well, my wife did not even need to get a mdeical test done for a visa renewal (forget about an xray), so not really dependent on nationality.
ANyways, who cares. its a 5 min thing.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

rsinner said:


> For example, if you serve less than 2 years, you get only 7 days of salary for every year in employment, while after 2 years it becomes 14 days of salary. And the time period is for employment under this company.


Has this changed recently?

It used to be after 1 year of employment, you would get 21 days salary (before allowances) for every year worked with the company. However, if you resigned, you would only get a third of that. This stayed the same until 5 years of employment IIRC/


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Gavtek said:


> Has this changed recently?
> 
> It used to be after 1 year of employment, you would get 21 days salary (before allowances) for every year worked with the company. However, if you resigned, you would only get a third of that. This stayed the same until 5 years of employment IIRC/


you are almost correct. I don't think it has changed. I had just written simplistically (7 days etc).
Its 0 up to 1 year, one third between 1 and 3 years (not 2 years as I had written earlier), two thirds between 3 and 5, and the full amount after that


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

It's only one third if you resign though? If your contract expires or is terminated by the employer, it's 21 days as soon as you reach 1 year.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Gavtek said:


> It's only one third if you resign though? If your contract expires or is terminated by the employer, it's 21 days as soon as you reach 1 year.


thats correct. If your employer terminates the employment, its the full amount.


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## inik (Jan 13, 2013)

Transferring visa from free zone to Dubai is not a complicated process, but make sure you transfer under the same employer / sponsor. And one more thing to consider- there are two types of labor contracts in Dubai- limited and unlimited, so make sure you know what type of contract you are moving to ... they are quite different in nature. Your new company PRO has to explain you the points.


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