UAE to change visa rule after plane crash

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Wednesday it would cancel a rule requiring expatriates to leave the country to change their visas, after more than 30 workers on a visa change trip were killed in a plane crash.

Under UAE regulations, expatriates, who make up 85 per cent of UAE’s population of 3.8 million, need to briefly leave the Gulf Arab state to switch employers or change visit visas into residence permits.

‘‘President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahayan told the council of ministers to issue the necessary regulations and directives and to cancel the exit requirement,’’ the official WAM news agency said.

Meanwhile, representatives from the UAE and Iran on Wednesday began investigating the causes behind the crash of an Iranian Kish Airlines plane that killed 43 of 46 people on board the craft, including 12 Indians.