Dubai Health Authority has said any visa application, either new or a renewal, must have health insurance, under new measures being introduced.
The emirate's health authority has said the linking of the health insurance scheme to visa issuance and renewal will ensure all employers comply with the new directive.
The enforcement system will become live on August 1 this year, one day after the phase two (firms with 100 to 999 employees) implementation deadline. The linking of visa renewal or issuance to the mandatory health insurance will not be applicable for phase three companies (less than 100 employees) who have until June 2016 to comply with the regulations.
Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qatami, chairman of the board of the DHA, said: "We are pleased to see that a lot of companies have already complied ahead of the timeline and we encourage all those who have not to do before the deadline. We anticipate that in phase two 600,000 people will be insured.
"At the time that the law was introduced in November 2013, the insured population in Dubai was 1.1 million. Since the phased introduction, until now, an additional 1.2 million people are insured, bringing the total insured population in Dubai to 2.3 million. This shows that employers are responding very well to the scheme."
Courtesy of Global Relocation Consultants.