Tuesday August 4 2009

DUBAI - Residents who own property will have to leave the UAE every six months, in order to continue living here without a work visa, officials say.

The renewal of a new six-month property visa for non-working investors will be done at the airport, according to a statement by the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD).

“When the multi-visit visa issued to a property owner expires abroad, his or her visa will be renewed at the airport at arrival,” said a statement from the department issued through official news agency WAM on Monday.

The multi-visit visa was announced by federal decree in June in a bid to clarify the law on developers sponsoring investors on residency visas.

However, there was some confusion as to whether investors who were already living in the country on visas sponsored by master-developers, such as Emaar and Nakheel, would need to make the transfer.

Brigadier Obaid bin Surur, deputy director of the department, said in the statement that DNRD officials had begun implementing the law last month and were fielding inquiries from developers “around the clock”.

Under the new law, investors have to meet certain conditions to gain a multi-entry visa. They have to own a property worth at least Dh1 million, have health insurance in the UAE and have a monthly salary of at least Dh10,000. Surur said the property developing company and Dubai Land Department would jointly asses the value of the property.

In addition, investors must be 100-percent owners of the property title deeds and present them to the department. 

The new law has been welcomed by many as a clarification, but most analysts have said that a longer stay than six months is needed to revitalise the market.

“People from politically/economically unstable countries in the region bought residences in Dubai assuming they would automatically be granted residency, a huge asset to have if the situation in their home countries turned sour,” financial group ING said in a statement in June.

“Dubai was the only market in the region to offer such a link.”

 Source:  Khaleej Times