UAE real estate buyers may not accuire residency Visa

UAE property boom started some years ago when the Emirates decided to allow expatriates to purchase land for residential or commercial purposes.

Back to 2002, Dubai was the the first emirate that started to do so. Because of lack of a proper real estate law, the three master developers - Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Properties - had to promised to manage a three-year renewable residence visas to owners of freehold properties under a special arrangement with the UAE residency department.

During 2002 to 2008, about 20,000 families have moved into their freehold properties, most of them on residence visas linked to their properties.

Now, when property investors are on rush to acquire a piece of land in UAE and people are selling sand at gold prices, government of UAE has decided to change the game rules and dismiss the major attraction out of the game. According to recent news from Gulf News, Dubai is decided to introduce a set of short-term visas in place of three-year residency visa, for foreign investors in real-estate sector.

RERA, Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera), a government agency that has its own financial and administrative independence with full legal authority to regulate the real estate sector in Dubai, has submitted proposals for a law to issue short-term visas in place of residency visas for real-estate investors. These visas may range from two weeks to few months depending on type and amount of investment.

The proposal, if approved, might be implemented at a federal level, especially that the local laws of most emirates allow foreign ownership of property.

We are raising the issue now because there is confusion among the public in this regard. We are urging people not to link the obtaining of a residency visa with buying property," he said. Bin Galita said the issue of visas is related to the "development company" and not the "property people buy".

The law, if implemented, may burst the property bubble and discourage new visitors. It may also become another major revenue stream for UAE government, as investors have to travel 3-4 times a year to check out their properties.