UAE extends visa for property investors to 3 years

UAE extends visa for property investors to 3 years

Reuters reports monumental decision extends 6-month visa to three years, in hopes it will help inject life into the UAE's flailing property market.

June 28, 2011 4:59 by p.deleon

The UAE has extended visas for real estate investors to three years from six months, the state news agency WAM said, as the Gulf state looks to boost investment in its struggling property market.

The decision, taken at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday chaired by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, is part of UAE’s strategic plan for 2011-2013 to ensure economic growth in the country, WAM said.

Currently foreign owners of property worth more than 1 million dirhams ($272,300) in the UAE have to renew their visa every six months.

Dubai’s property sector has been hit hard in recent years with billions of dollars worth of projects put on hold or cancelled, while property prices slumped as much as 60 percent largely due to lack of buyers in the market.

Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) said earlier this year it cancelled as many as 217 registered property projects over the past two years. ($1=3.672 dirhams) (Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Gulf newsroom)

Tags: property, UAE, visa

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1 Comment

salomnella on June 29, 2011 1:21 pm

This is a good step forward if the conditions & and fine prints dont bring any bad surprise. But what guaranty is there that the Law will be implemented fairly? or that after six month a new U turn to 6 month will not be introduced? Will authorities will also deal with errant devlopers who still control every side of buildings life with inflated charges? Will RERA finally start implementing on greedy developers the existing laws? Do owners have the right to get rid of incompetent FM companies that belong to developers? If the Visa move is welcome, there are too many other more down to earth issues to deal with that will not yet encourage investors to put their hard earned money in the property market in UAE. Investors have learned the hard way and will not fall in the trap again if everything is not engraved in stone…. this time.