Abu Dhabi: A 31-year-old man has urged people seeking jobs to double check their papers in case they are sent back.

Mohammad Kunhi Kariyath, who came to the UAE on a visit visa, was refused entry at the Abu Dhabi airport after it was found out that he was not a businessman as was stated on his visit visa.

Kariyath arrived at Abu Dhabi on a visit visa hoping to attend an interview and secure a job as a labourer.

After a look at the shabby appearance of the man, the officials questioned him as to whether he possessed a business card or a visiting card or cash to prove that he is a businessman.

Upon getting a negative response to these enquiries, Kariyath was detained for nearly two days after which he was blacklisted and deported.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kariyath said: "I came to Abu Dhabi on August 9 on a visit visa to attend a job interview. The visa was provided by a metal works company, who had plans to hire me.

Interrogation

"I was asked to provide my credit card or a business card or cash to prove that I'm here for business. Also I was asked which hotel I would be staying at.

"That's actually when I realised that my profession was shown as a businessperson. I explained that I do not have any card or a hotel stay booked," he said. "[When] I said this I was escorted to the officer's room and made to stay there."

Since Kariyath was told not to use his mobile phone he couldn't inform his relative who was at the airport to receive him.

"In a while my photograph was taken and I was moved to the holding facility. It is on the second day that I got my air ticket back to Kerala confirmed. Finally, I left for home on August 11."

Speaking to Gulf News from his home in Kerala, Kariyath said that no one else should have such an experience.

He said that his plight started much before the airport episode. "My wife was carrying 15 sovereigns of gold to arrange a ... loan and make use of the money to meet my traveling expenses. Unfortunately this got stolen [in India]. We put this episode behind us and made alternate arrangements. Then again I was supposed to come weeks before, but I missed the flight owing to heavy rains."

Official: Do not travel without identity papers

"Would a businessman travel without his business card or credit card or any money? And if the person coming on a visit visa with his profession marked as businessman is not one, then we have to send him back," said a senior immigration official.

"In such cases, there is no mistake on the part of the authorities because while processing a visa we only work in paper. The first official who sees the person at the airport would ask the man to show proof that he is a businessman," he said, adding that this is the normal procedure.

"We are also bothered as to what will happen if we return a real business person. But if a businessman travels without his documents and proof of identity then he ought to go and come back. This is not a procedure prevalent just here but is an international practice," he said.

Commenting on the case of Mohammad Kunhi Kariyath, an Indian, an official at the Abu Dhabi airport said that this case is not a stray one. "Many people end up being sent back from the airport since their profession does not match the one indicated on the visa."

A senior Indian Embassy official confirmed that the embassy has not received any such complaints so far.

Procedures

When contacted by Gulf News, the owner of the company which procured the visit visa for Kariyath said that when a company applies for such a visa the person is shown to be a businessperson.

"As far as I know, this is the only way a company can obtain a visit visa. But I'm not sure is there is some new procedure," the company's owner said.