More than 20,000 Pakistanis have been repatriated home from the UAE since mid April, new figures have shown.
Around 15,000 passengers departed on flights from Dubai while 5,000 boarded special charters from Abu Dhabi, according to authorities.
Officials from the Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Development Department said 21,843 nationals had lost their jobs in the Emirates since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Close to 34,500 had also either been placed on paid or unpaid leave. Some 60,000 are still waiting to return home.
To date, more than 120 repatriation flights have left the UAE to Pakistan, with an average number of 11 departures a week.
The flights have also repatriated 214 deceased Pakistani nationals and returned 394 prisoners who were serving sentences in the country.
Further flights, scheduled between June 1 and June 10, are expected to return an additional 7,630 nationals home.
They will include flights to major cities such as Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad.
The Pakistan International Airline (PIA) will carry out 20 of the flights from the UAE and the remaining will be operated by UAE carriers.
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Visa changes give families fresh hope
Foreign workers can sponsor family members based solely on their income
Male residents employed in the UAE can sponsor immediate family members, such as wife and children, subject to conditions that include a minimum salary of Dh 4,000 or Dh 3,000 plus accommodation.
Attested original marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, ejari or rental contract, labour contract, salary certificate must be submitted to the government authorised typing centre to complete the sponsorship process
In Abu Dhabi, a woman can sponsor her husband and children if she holds a residence permit stating she is an engineer, teacher, doctor, nurse or any profession related to the medical sector and her monthly salary is at least Dh 10,000 or Dh 8,000 plus accommodation.
In Dubai, if a woman is not employed in the above categories she can get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh 10,000 and with a special permission from the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai.
To sponsor parents, a worker should earn Dh20,000 or Dh19,000 a month, plus a two-bedroom accommodation
