DNRD achieves faster output of work visas through electronic link with Ministry of Labour

During the first five months of 2004, DNRD received 113,485 labour permits electronically from the Ministry of Labour in the UAE.

'The full electronic integration between DNRD and the Ministry of Labour has considerably speeded up the process of issuing work visas,' said Colonel Saeed bin Belailah, Director, DNRD. 'This is all the more remarkable because workload and pressure had been mounting at both ends as the UAE labour market has been booming driven by rapid economic growth and the arrival of multinationals keen to open up offices as a base for servicing the Middle East region.'

Colonel Saeed bin Belailah underlined DNRD's successful migration of its processes to electronic channels and creating a system that ensures that the labour permits are received and sent electronically to the Ministry of Labour.

'As a result of this integration between DNRD and the Ministry of Labour, we have been able to significantly improve the system of visa processing and delivery,' said Colonel bin Belailah. 'The transfer of 113,485 labour permits electronically from the Ministry of Labour in five months means that, on an average, we received over 22,600 electronic labour permits per month. This is a remarkable achievement considering the mounting workload as well as need to follow labour guidelines while issuing labour permits.'

'As a government organisation that has been consistently working at developing more streamlined procedures at all levels, DNRD has recently stepped up its customer-centric approach by modelling itself on the working practices of the private sector,' said Colonel bin Belailah. 'We have launched a series of customer feedback programmes to study the public opinion of our services and we are pleased that the large majority has expressed satisfaction at the quality of service we render.'

'The work culture at DNRD is such that all staff members are encouraged to simplify the procedures and reduce delays at all points. The electronic exchange of documents between DNRD and the Ministry of Labour means that there is no time-lag between the completion of a procedure and its despatch to DNRD. We receive the work permit instantly, enabling us to issue the visa in quick time,' he added.

Colonel bin Belailah noted that the recent developments at DNRD, including the full integration with the Ministry of Labour, were an extension of the advanced stage of Dubai eGovernment, and reflected the UAE's success in creating an e-society.

'As UAE continuous to progress economically, there will be a bigger inflow of professionals and businesses into the country. Manual channels are no longer capable of delivering satisfactory services to the people. DNRD has been preparing for this stage by adopting best of breed online systems. Our success is reflected in the rising number of electronic transactions and the successful integration between the Ministry of Labour and us. We are confident that all these measures will make us fully equipped to carry out most processes and transactions electronically, taking us closer to the goals of e-government,' Colonel bin Belailah added.