The UAE has temporarily suspended the requirement of a good conduct certificate for employment visas across the country, bringing respite to thousands of Nepali migrant workers from standing in long queues. 

In a letter sent out to embassies and consulates across the UAE on March 29, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFA) confirmed the news of the postponement.

“The UAE suspends requesting certificates of good conduct from foreign employees,” the UAE ministry letter stated, referring to a “cabinet decision”. 

Starting on April 1, 2018, all embassies and consulates need not request the certificate for work applicants, it added.

In a series of tweets, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, on Sunday, announced: “Kindly note that the good conduct certificate is postponed from the 1st  of April till further notice.”

This new decision has been very much welcomed by consulates and embassies.

Somesh Thapa, consular officer with the DoCS said they were notified about the temporarily suspension of the document from the UAE embassy in Nepal. 

“Embassy officials notified us about the development, but we have not received any formal notice yet,” said Thapa, adding that the number of workers visiting the department for document attestation had decreased on the Monday.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 aspirant migrant workers used to visit the department every day for verification process, said Thapa. “It has gone down by at least 500.”

On February 4, the UAE government announced that newcomers to the country would need to provide a good conduct certificate or police clearance certificate before seeking a job there.

When the decision was announced, the committee in charge of implementing the Cabinet resolution said the action fell under the framework of the efforts of the UAE government to create “a safer and more sustainable society”.

The regulation had added extra burden on Nepali workers aspiring for jobs in the UAE. As per the requirement, Nepalis going for work permit in the UAE had to apply for the PCC at the Nepal Police headquarters in Naxal, Kathmandu. A copy of the police report would be submitted to the Department of Consular Services (DoCS) at Tripureshwor for attestation before getting a final approval from the UAE Embassy in Kathmandu. 

The aspirant migrant workers had to pay the UAE Embassy Rs4,300 for verification. The embassy had hired two travel agencies for the verification process, for which the workers had to pay additional Rs 113. Besides, they had to pay another Rs200 to the Department of Consular Services (DoCS).

Earlier last week, there were rumours the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) would not be required for expatriates from nine countries–India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Kenya, Bangladesh, Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal and Nigeria–for work in the Gulf state. However, the UAE authority has not made any official announcement yet.