People are still flocking to live and work in the UAE with hundreds of thousands more residency visas being issued than cancelled, according to the new figures released by the labour minister.
Data presented by Saqr Ghobash, minister of labour for the UAE, show that around 200,000 more residency permits have been issued in the last six months than have been cancelled.
From October last year to the end of March this year a total of 405,000 residency visas were cancelled across the Emirates.
However, over the same period 622,000 residency visas were issued – giving a net positive effect on the population.
“According to the numbers we have during the last six months there was no decline, Ghobash said, in response to reporters’ questions at a seminar in Dubai on Monday held by the community development authority.
The total number of residency permits issued in the UAE currently numbered four million, he added.
The figures come two months after Dubai officials revealed that it cancelled 86 percent more visas in January 2009 than it had in the same month the previous year.
Data from Dubai’s Ministry of Interior Naturalization & Residency (DNRD) showed that 54,684 residency visas were cancelled during the month of January, compared with 29,418 in January 2008 - an 86 percent increase.
However, the number of new residency visas issued in January was higher than the number cancelled, with 88,423 visas being approved, said the DNRD.
This figure was down from January 2008, when 93,957 residency visas were issued.