His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of UAE, issued Decree Law No. 16 of 2017 on the amendment of some provisions of Federal Law No. 17 of 1972 concerning Nationality and Passports published in the latest issue of the Official Gazette.
The law stipulates that “the phrase “Ministry of the Interior” shall be replaced by the “Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship” and the phrase “Minister of Interior” shall be replaced by the Chairman of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship” wherever it appears in the above-mentioned Federal Law No. 17 of 1972 regarding nationality and passports”
and stipulates the following: “By virtue of Federal Decree,foreign woman who is married to a national my be bestowed the UAE citizenship after passing of 7 years from the date of submission of the application to Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, in case of having one or more births, and this period shall be increased to 10 years in the absence of births, provided that the marriage is continuing, according to the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article, if the husband dies or divorces his wife before the expiry of the period referred to in Clause 1 of this Article, and if the wife has one or more births of such husband, the wife may be granted citizenship after expiry of the period as long as the same remains a widow, divorced or married a national after the death of her husband and maintained its residence in the state.”
The President of the State may issue a Decree of Nationality by law or grant it by citizenship to any person without complying with the terms of residence and the conditions provided for in such Decree-Law and its Executive Regulations. Nationality may be granted to any person who has provided great services to the State without complying with the terms stipulated in the preceding Articles.
The date of entering into force of the bestowing or granting nationality shall be considered to all those who obtained it, as of the date of completion of the nationality documents and the completion of the required procedures in accordance with the executive regulations of such Decree-Law. The right to vote or to be nominated by a parliamentary or public entity is required to be a national by law.
The Law stated that it is not permissible to leave or enter the country except from the designated ports and according to the procedures followed in this regard.
The Law confirms that, without prejudice to any more severe penalty provided for in any other law, a penalty of not less than 15 years and a fine of not less than AED50,000 shall be imposed on anyone who falsifies or prints an illegitimate image or forges a passport, travel document, or any document of nationality knowing that it is forged, falsified or illegally issued, and any person who has been impersonated or replaced it by an official document prepared to prove it with the intention to obtain a nationality, passport, travel document or other nationality document, submitted a false document, made incorrect statements or concealed the nationality documents he/she holds in order to obtain for him/herself or for another person the nationality, passport, travel document or other nationality document.
Any person who claims affiliation to a family, tribe or persons not affiliated thereto with the intention to obtain a nationality, passport, travel document or any nationality document shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years and a fine of not less than AED50,000 or one of these two penalties.
Any person who unlawfully initiated, facilitated or helped to use a passport, travel document or any document of nationality, or who has left or returned to the country from ports not designated for such purpose, or alleged losing passport, travel document or other nationality document with his or her actual possession of it, or has intentionally damaged or concealed a passport, travel document or other nationality document, or intentionally used a passport, travel document or other nationality document after the circular about losing it, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not less than one year and a fine of not less than AED50,000 or one of these two penalties.
Any person who submitted to an unofficial entity a passport, travel document or any document of nationality for purposes other than the purposes assigned to it, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months and a fine of not less than AED50,000 or one of these two penalties. Any person found, retained, for the purpose of taking benefits, or received by mistake a passport, travel document or any nationality document and did not deliver it to the nearest police station, the headquarters of Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship or one of its branches in the state shall be punished by a fine not less than 50 thousand dirhams and not more than 500,000 dirhams.
Post Your Comment