Dubai: Students can be exempted from the rule that states residency visas stand to be cancelled if they stay more than six months out of the UAE, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) Dubai has said.

Major Salem Bin Ali director of Amer Client Happiness Centre in GDRFA Dubai told Gulf News in a live Facebook interview that despite the residency permit automatically getting cancelled if residents stay outside the country for six months, there are some exceptions, like students.

“If a student has a valid residency and has stayed more than six months outside the country, they can be exempted. They need to prove that they had an exam which forced them to stay for more than six months in order to keep their residency,” Maj Bin Ali said.