GDRFA processes 250000 transactions through video call

Dubai’s General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) has processed over 250,000 transactions through the first phase of its video call service. Calling the results of the first phase “promising”, the GDRFA said the transactions were processed in two months since the service was rolled out.

“The video call service has proven highly effective in addressing various types of requests related to financial service procedures, Golden Visas, humanitarian cases, legal advice, establishment services, real estate investor procedures, entry permits, investigations and more,” the authority said.

Brigadier-General Hussein Ibrahim, assistant director-general of the Institutional Support Sector said, “It guarantees high efficiency while minimising effort and time through direct visual communication with the employee in charge of updating data or providing any necessary information."

The service facilitates transactions and document submissions remotely, he added. It allows individuals to complete transactions, update their data, and provide necessary documents through visual, direct, and “interactive communication” with employees without visiting the GDRFA offices physically.

He noted that a “significant” number of people used the service for enquiries. The video call service, however, is primarily for completing transaction procedures. “Customers can get answers to their enquiries by contacting the Amer call centre on the toll-free number 8005111, which operates 24/7.”

Announced in January this year, the GDRFA had said that the video calling option would eventually be expanded to become a 24-hour service, “with the aim of cutting down physical visits to service centres”.

Lieutenant-General Mohammed Al Marri, director-general of GDRFA-Dubai, had said that residents would be able to enquire about the status of their applications and complete all paperwork and information needed through the video conferencing service.