The General Directorate of Naturalisation and Residency will start the implementation of the new rule for issuing multiple entry visas for property owners starting from next month, reported the official news agency WAM.
A new ordinance issued by Interior Minister Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan last Saturday had given the right for the owners of property and residential units to enter the country on a multiple entry visa and stay up to a maximum of six months before exiting.
As per the rule, the multi-entry permit can be renewed according to a set of specific requirements and conditions.
Acting Director General of the Naturalisation and Residency Department Brig. Nasser Al Awadhi Al Minhali said that the new rule aims to regulate the property ownership and investment in property by expatriates, thus putting an end to personal deductions about the legal aspects in this regard.
The visa will be charged AED 2000 without a bank guarantee provided the application is supported with medical insurance covering the period of stay in the country, Al Minhali clarified.
At the expiry of six months, the holder of the visa should exit, either to his home country or any other GCC states before returning again to stay for a similar period of time.
The owners of empty plots of land will not benefit from this rule even if they produce documents to support their ownership.
In view of the resolution, a new para will be added to article 33 of the Executive regulations of the law for entry and residency of foreigners. It will read:’Owners of built-in properties can stay for six months from the date of entry into the country. On the expiry of this period, the owner pledges to depart for his homeland or any of the GCC countries. He will only be allowed to enter the country again after meeting the required conditions’.
The property should be built-in and this case doesn’t include owners of vacant lands. The owner should obtain a title of the property from the property registration authority in the emirate. The unit, be a house or an apartment, should be wholly owned by the concerned person.
The same article stipulates that the value of the unit should not be less that AED 1 million. The unit should be fit for accommodation and for members of the family. The departments of naturalisation and residency will scrutinise this point. The article allows the owner to include in the visa application his spouse and children and attaches an insurance cover (for him, his wife and children) valid for the limit of the stay in the country.
Article 34 stipulates that owner should have a fixed income of not less than AED 10,000 or its equivalent in foreign currencies whether inside or outside the country though the visa doesn’t give the owner of the property the right to work inside the country.
