Applying for visa
now requires medical insurance coverage
The mandatory insurance scheme
linking application for a visa in Dubai to medical insurance is now in place,
the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has confirmed.
Residents applying for a new visa or visa renewal must be able to
demonstrate that they are covered by medical insurance, unless they are part of
the last phase of the rollout of the scheme, which looks at a deadline of June
2016.
Employees of companies contracting more than 100 employees must comply
with the new rules, which are in place since the beginning of this month.
When applying for a new visa or visa renewal, a medical certificate must
be presented.
The medical certificate is a document provided by the insurance company
stating that a person is covered by medical insurance, explained Haidar Al
Yousuf, Director of Health Funding, DHA.
"All insurance companies should be able to provide this document
free of charge.
"When applying online, there is an option to upload the document
when submitting the application," he continued to explain.
According to the director, there was a minor change made to the system
after the new rules were in place.
"Whereas the system first asked for the document with an upload
option reading 'other documents', it now reads 'scan of the health
certificate'."
However, al Yousuf assured that as employees are sponsored by their
respective companies, the application procedure will be carried out by the
company.
On the same note, the company is responsible for the provision of medical
insurance, and if this is not provided on time, any potential fine for
overstaying would come to the company, he explained.
Visitors to the emirate will also be required to have a medical
insurance coverage upon entering Dubai, however, details of this part of the
scheme are yet to be announced.
"There will be a comprehensive system in place and the details of
this system will be announced at a later stage."
Currently, visitors applying for a visa through the GDRFA are already
required to purchase medical insurance upon purchasing a visa.
Resident individual sponsors of relatives and friends visiting the UAE
are required to purchase health insurance as part of the visit visa for each
visiting individual. This is done to ensure that if any medical emergency takes
place, there is sufficient cover to provide for medical care.
However, not often is this cover claimed – resulting in such purchases
becoming another revenue stream for insurance firms.
S Kumar and his family were relaxed when they were presented the bill of
a hospital visit for his ailing mother-in-law. Secured with a health insurance
coverage that came with her tourist visa, the Dh6,500 bill would be only a
matter of time before it would be repaid by the insurance firm.
But not so.
“My mother was on holiday in Al Ain, where we live. When she started
having stomach problems, we decided to have it checked at the hospital,
thinking that the visit would be covered,” tells S Kumar. “She is 80-years old
and at that age every little ailment is an emergency. The man with the scythe
is just looking for an excuse. She had to have scans and the bill came to
Dh6,500. I did not expect to pay such an amount as my own insurance pays for my
hospital visit upfront. But then, I was told I could ‘try’ and claim it from
the Visit Visa insurance cover,” said Kumar.
“However, I was flatly told by the hospital staff that it would be
almost impossible to get a refund. I tried, they were very nice over the phone,
but I still have not got anything back,” he added.
Visitors who apply for a visa under sponsorship are required by law to
purchase a health insurance. However, these health insurance packages cover
emergency cases only, and for any other treatment travel insurance is
recommended, or the visitor is left with the unexpected holiday expense.
Commenting on the overall scenario of visitor health cover in the UAE,
leading insurer, Daman, explained that, generally speaking, claims are not that
frequent but are usually very expensive.
“Daman offers health insurance plans for 40, 70, 100 and 190 days; those
cost Dh40, Dh70, Dh90 and Dh180 respectively,” explained Dr. Sven Rohte, Chief
Commercial Officer at Daman.
In 2011 alone, Daman provided 65,500 visitors to Abu Dhabi with a
healthcare package.
However, emergencies are not as frequent as other cases, and by consequence
not many of the 65,500 members Daman insured last year may have had to use the
card, said Dr Rohte.
“I actually think insurance firms are making a good buck out of this,”
says Kumar. “The health insurance package is mandatory with the visa application,
but the number of cases in which it is used is very limited.”
Apart from Abu Dhabi, the emirate of Dubai implemented similar
requirements for visitors to the emirate in 2008. In other emirates health
insurance for visitors to the UAE is advised.
The UAE has launched an electronic visa facility in Spain to facilitate
the issuing process.
UAE Ambassador to Spain Dr Hasa Abdullah Al Otaiba launched the new
electronic visa service for the issuance of entry visas to the UAE.
The new system enjoys accurate specifications and meets the requirements
of high security.
The new service was launched at the consular section in the presence of
Khalifa Al Mazrouei, an official in charge of the consular affairs at the
Embassy and other consular officials.
The UAE ambassador said the service is in line with the directives of
the leadership to upgrade work procedures in different institutions.
She thanked all the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who
contributed to this excellent project.
However, this rule does not apply to everybody, as some individuals are
sponsored by organisations or do not require at all.
"There are other groups that are currently not covered by this
rule, but they will be under the new system," said al Yousuf.
The official date for the linking of the visa to medical insurance was
August 1, 2015. However, the GDRFA and the typing centres employees in the
emirate were not aware of the new rule when asked local media.
"The online application procedure had to be fine-tuned, but once
that was done the system was in place. It is now fully implemented," said
Al Yousuf.
Currently phase 1 and phase 2 of the mandatory scheme have been
completed, covering companies’ with more than 1,000 employees on their
sponsorship and companies with 100 to 999 employees.
Companies with less than 100 employees, and spouses, dependents and
domestic workers are part of phase 3 of the rollout.
"We are still counting but it looks like the population that is
covered by medical insurance now stands at 2.7 million. We expect that 3,000
companies, consisting of a total of 600,000 employees have complied with the
rules.
