Dubai's revamped system to give residents permission to fly home was launched on Monday.
Emirates Airline directed flyers to the GDRFA immigration site and said they would receive an "instant response" if they were eligible to travel.
The website - where applications can be made - is similar to the federal government's Tawajudi system, set up to bring residents home. Only those with a Dubai-issued residency visa are eligible.
Tawajudi has been overloaded with applications in recent months and travellers have had to repeatedly apply. Returning residents with visas from other emirates must continue to apply here.
"You will get an instant response if your application has been approved. If the application cannot be processed at this time, you can try at a later stage," Emirates said in an updated section on its website.
"Only book your ticket back to Dubai after you have received the approval. During the booking process, you will be asked to enter your GDRFA application number."
On a Facebook page set up to help residents overseas, which has more than 24,000 members, some said they received the permission to fly "within two minutes". Others said the system would not accept their application.
Users must enter the long number next to the word "file" on their residency visa - in this format xxx/xxxx/x/xxxxx - and not the "UID no".
The federal government said this month that about 200,000 UAE residents were estimated to be overseas. To date, about 30,000 have been brought home on repatriation flights.
Neeti Rodrigues, 44, from India, was among those who rushed to apply using the new system on Monday.
She travelled to Mumbai on March 19 - the day the UAE borders closed - to see her terminally ill mother, who died of cancer the next day.
Since then, she has tried to get home to see her daughter, Nicole, who has severe epilepsy and autism.
Her Tawajudi application was rejected twice, but on Monday she got permission to travel with Dubai's new system.
I got approval in 15 minutes and did not need to submit anything apart from my passport details
“I got approval in 15 minutes and did not need to submit anything apart from my passport details,” she said.
"Once I put my visa information, my file showed up so as soon as I pressed submit, I got approved," Ms Rodrigues told The National.
Despite that, there are currently no flights from India to the Emirates - just repatriation services in the opposite direction.
She hopes both governments will allow services to resume soon.
“I don’t know what to do with this approval because there is no guidance on flights back. I just need to get on a flight home," she said.
Since her husband's company called staff back to their office their 17-year-old son and a family helper have taken care of Nicole.
"Three months away is unimaginable. I’m hoping both sides will communicate and have an action plan," she said.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
All you need to know about Formula E in Saudi Arabia
What The Saudia Ad Diriyah E-Prix
When Saturday
Where Diriyah in Saudi Arabia
What time Qualifying takes place from 11.50am UAE time through until the Super Pole session, which is due to end at 12.55pm. The race, which will last for 45 minutes, starts at 4.05pm.
Who is competing There are 22 drivers, from 11 teams, on the grid, with each vehicle run solely on electronic power.
Brief scores:
Manchester United 4
Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'
Fulham 1
Kamara 67' (pen),
Red card: Anguissa (68')
Man of the match: Juan Mata (Man Utd)
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
