A Filipino woman was given a second chance to work in the United Arab Emirates and granted a six-month job-seeker’s visa through the country’s amnesty program.
Veronica Taruc, 30, went to the UAE on February 2017 and was promised employment in a salon. However, everything that was promised to her before she went to the country was a lie and she became a victim of illegal recruiters, the Gulf News reported.
Taruc ended up becoming a domestic worker and worked for two months before her visa expired. She said she could not return to the Philippines as she was not given her salary and was forced to work part-time to earn money to survive in the UAE.
With the UAE’s amnesty program that began in August, Taruc was able to fix her status in the country and was granted a six-month visa for job-seekers.
“The officials told me the visa is valid for six months. They stressed that I should be able to find employment before it lapses or will have to leave the country before then,” Taruc said.
The UAE’s amnesty program allows undocumented migrants to fix their status in the country or return to their home countries without having to pay a fine for overstaying.