40 years career in visa liaison.

Obaidah Al Shehi was the first female Emirati to work for a private company and liaise with the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department over employee visas. Satish Kumar / The National

For almost 40 years, Obaidah Al Shahi has enthusiastically pursued a career in visa liaison, earning the respect of everyone, not least her children. And she has no plans to stop soon, Salam Al Amir writes

DUBAI // Obaidah Al Shahi is an exceptional Emirati woman who went up against all life’s obstacles and against the restrictions placed on women in the 1970s to live a life full of love, respect from others and appreciation from her children.

She was the first female Emirati to work for a private company and liaise with the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department over employee visas, as well as being a woman who, despite her early marriage, decided to pursue her education and career.

“My family circumstances and the fact that I was married at an early age prevented me from getting a proper education,” Ms Al Shahi said.

She managed to pass Grade 7 with the help of a literacy programme and, in 1976, she applied for a job with a foodstuffs company as its visa liaison representative.

She got the job and all these years later is still working tirelessly, running through halls at the department to finalise time-sensitive applications.

“At the beginning it was hard and I needed time to get to know the process and to get through to employees in a man’s-only job, but now, they all know me and respect me,” said the woman who raised nine children while maintaining a time-consuming and stressful job.

Through her hard work, she managed to provide her children with the proper education that she never received.

“They have all graduated from university and carry BA degrees in different majors and now work in reputable organisations,” she said of her children.

Ms Al Shahi said that none of her children felt a moment of shame that their mother worked as a visa liaison representative.

“They all always make me feel that I am their source of pride and that I am the perfect mother who sacrificed the years of her youth to work hard and raise them well,” she said.

Despite the difficulties she faces now because her sight is no longer as good as it once was, she remains as active as the first day she started in the job and refuses to give up her work.

“I will continue working until the last breath and I will die working to get the residency stamp for one of my clients – I will not hide behind closed doors,” Ms Al Shahi said.

She said that women in the workplace certainly face hardships but she believes that being in a country that is relentless about providing the necessary support to Emirati women to help them succeed makes it easier to achieve goals.

“Our country and our leaders completely refuse to eliminate women and put them on the sidelines,” Ms Al Shahi said. “On the contrary, they built the community’s belief that the woman has an essential role in the development of the country, socially and economically.”

Describing the nature of her work, she said that a physical presence at the residency department was a must on a daily basis and that a representative such as herself had to be very careful to not lose any important document.

“Sometimes an application of mine would be rejected, but I never lose hope and I try again,” she said.

Ms Al Shahi has never been discouraged by the fact that she was the only woman doing what she does, always giving work her all and, she said, for that reason she gained the respect of her employers and the residency department.