dknewton

Hi, I have just arrived in Abu Dhabi on a working visa as a nurse to work at the Sheik Khalifa Medical City and my passport was taken from me as soon as I arrived. This I believe is to apply for my residence visa. Does anyone know how long this should take and also, once I get my visa, do I get my passport back. I just don't like the idea of not having my passport.
I don't seem to be able to get much information from the human resources at the hospital so if anyone could help me with this information, it would be appreciated.
With thanks

Inselaffen

It should take between 2 weeks and a month max.

a lot of companies will try to keep your passport! DO NOT let them keep it. It is illegal. The Freezone I work under wanted my passport before they would give me my labour card. so I told them to keep the Labour Card. Many Government owned companies keep their employees passport despite the legal situation.

weescot

Yep -anything between 10 days and a month. Turnaround often depends on the relationship your company PRO has with the immigration dept. If your company suggests keeping it, it is worth remembering that a British passport is legally the property of the government. You can also indicate that you are planning to travel to Oman for the weekend etc. This helped hasten the return of mine....