An Indian father facing Dh13,000 ($3,500) in visa overstay fines has shared his joy after an Emirati official's social media plea and community support secured him a UAE amnesty campaign reprieve.
Mahipal Gollaguju learnt about the two-month government initiative last week, when friends showed him a video on TikTok explaining the process in a language he understood. A community group in Dubai will pay for the daily wage worker’s flight ticket home to Hyderabad in southern India.
“I’m so happy now, it’s as if God has put his hand on my head,” the 42-year-old told The National.
“I have tears in my eyes, my heart is happy. We saw a TikTok video in which an Emirati said to go to the Amer centre to solve our problems and I did. I will have an air ticket – it’s all amnesty blessings.”
The visa amnesty runs until October 31 and allows people with expired visas to obtain exit passes and leave the country without paying fines or find a job and remain in the country.
‘My dear brothers’: Urdu TikTok videos
This is the lifeline Mr Gollaguju has been praying for, as he can return to his family in India without paying visa overstay penalties. He came to Dubai in December 2022 based on assurances of an agent who said he would earn Dh100 a day doing construction work.
But when he arrived in the UAE, Mr Gollaguju was told he had to find his own job. He survived on money from temporary employment on construction sites, but rarely got sufficient work to earn the Dh450 rent for a bed in a room he shared with eight others.
When Mr Gollaguju’s two-year UAE residency visa expired in January, he remained in the country hoping to pay back a loan of 170,000 rupees ($2,000) he took to come to Dubai.
He had hoped to save money to educate his two children and care for his family, who work as farm labourers.
But with no permanent job in sight and visa fines that climbed to more than Dh13,000, he knew time was running out.
“Some days, I didn’t have enough money to eat, I slept on an empty stomach,” he said. “I could not pay rent, so I lived with a friend.”
The TikTok videos posted by an Emirati official offered him a window to legalise his stay. In short clips, UAE citizen Abdulla Lashkari urges people to apply for amnesty.
“My dear brothers and sisters, there is no need to be scared,” he says in Urdu. “You can come to any of the 86 Amer centres in Dubai and you have two choices – take an [exit pass], leave and all your fines will be forgiven. Or if you find a good company to work for then change your visa and stay here.”
Offering a helping hand
Mr Lashkari, secretary general of the Permanent Committee for Labour Affairs, is an online hit with his TikTok videos on labour issues racking up millions of views.
His popularity soared during the Covid-19 pandemic when safety messages he shared amassed more than two million views. His suggestions to seek assistance on workplace complaints drew 5.8 million views.
Mr Lashkari said it was the responsibility of all to support workers who left their families for jobs in the Gulf.
“All I do is give a message – now it’s about amnesty, it could be about his [worker’s] future or about positive thinking,” he said. “When a person goes abroad we need to think what happens to him when he is so far from his family, his village, his people. It is our duty to be a positive part of his life – so he feels there is somebody listening.”
He also makes it clear that those without valid visas should follow the law.
“I explain to them, ‘Brother, become legal, make your status legal,” Mr Lashkari said. “When you go to another country respect its laws because the rules are there to protect you. I tell them not to waste time and it seems people are listening.”
Free ticket home
It was these videos that guided Mr Gollaguju to an Amer centre in Bur Dubai.
He showed his passport and expired Emirates identity card to officials and in less than 30 minutes he obtained an exit pass. This meant he was clear to leave the UAE without fines or a ban on his re-entry.
The Indian consulate often issues warnings to beware of unscrupulous agents and asks workers to get confirmed job offers before leaving for the Gulf.
The Telugu Rasamayi UAE community group learnt about his plight and will pay for the airfare of Mr Gollaguju and more than 50 others who have obtained exit passes.
“The amnesty has changed people lives,” said SV Reddy, the association president. “These men are anxious to go back to India and we play a small part by giving them tickets. It is a big opportunity for people without proper visas to return to their families.”
