In one of the biggest residency visa fraud cases in Dubai, 21 individuals from various nationalities have been convicted and fined a total of Dh25.21 million.
The Dubai Citizenship and Residency Court found them guilty of using fake companies to illegally recruit workers on residence visas, only to shut down the businesses without regularizing their legal status.
The suspects, of various nationalities, were found guilty of operating fraudulent companies to unlawfully obtain residency visas, which they later sold to 385 recipients.
The network exploited legal loopholes by setting up dummy businesses that existed only on paper and never functioned as legitimate employers.Â
The investigation was initiated after the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) flagged the suspects and their companies. Following detailed monitoring and inspections, it was discovered that many of these companies had non-existent offices and were set up solely for obtaining and misusing residency visas.
The Citizenship and Residency Prosecution led a thorough investigation, uncovering 33 commercial establishments used as fronts to obtain and misuse 385 residency visas. Most business licenses were found to have been issued using fake addresses, pointing to an intentional effort to exploit residency and labor laws for illegal gains.
Dr Ali Humaid bin Khatem, Senior Advocate General and Head of the Citizenship and Residency Prosecution, affirmed the commitment to addressing such violations and protecting the integrity of the labor market and society.
