UAE Cabinet approves long-term visa system

The UAE Cabinet approved long-term visa system for investors, entrepreneurs, specialised talents and researchers in the fields of science, knowledge and outstanding students to facilitate business and create an attractive and encouraging investment environment for the growth of business for investors, entrepreneurs and professional talents.

The decision of the Cabinet follows the decision approved earlier this year to grant investors a ten-year residency visa, as well as to grant residency visas of up to 10 years for specialists in the medical, scientific, research and technical fields, and for scientists and creative talents of culture and arts, including their spouses and children. The decision aims to maintain the position of the UAE as an optimal business environment.

The decision includes the terms and conditions for obtaining long-term visas for investors, entrepreneurs, specialized talents, researchers in the fields of science and knowledge, and outstanding students to attract talents in all vital sectors of the national economy. The visa benefits also include the spouse and the children to ensure a cohesive family and social structure and to create a stimulating environment for stability and growth.

Investors

The decision includes the provisions to grant investors from UAE and broad a long-term visa. It defines two categories for investors: Investors in a property of a value of 5 million dirhams or more will be granted a residence for five years, and investors in public investments through a deposit, an established company, business partnership of 10 million dirhams or more, or a total investment of not less than 10 million dirhams in all areas mentioned as long as non-real estate investments are not less than 60per cent of the total investment, will be granted a renewable residency visa every 10 years.

The Cabinet decision outlines the following conditions for both categories:

• The amount invested shall be wholly owned by the investor and not loaned and should be proven by supporting documents
• Investment retention for at least 3 years A standard financial liability with a financial solvency not exceeding Dh10 million
• The long-term visa could also be extended to include business partners, provided that each partner contributes Dh10 million, the spouse and the children, as well as one executive director and one advisor.
• The decision allows investors to enter the country for a six-month period, multiple entries, to apply for the long-term visa requirements.

 Entrepreneurs

The decision also includes the terms to grant a long-term visa to two categories of entrepreneurs: those having a previous project with a minimum of Dh500,000, or having the approval of an accredited business incubator in the country. Entrepreneurs will be granted a five-year visa with a possibility for upgrading to an investor’s visa provided they meet the requirements.

The benefits of the entrepreneurial visa include entrepreneurs, partners, three executive directors, spouse and children. The entrepreneur is allowed entry into the country for six months, multi-entry visa period, with renewal for another six months.

Specialised talents and researchers in the fields of science and knowledge

The decision also includes provisions for granting a 10-year visa for specialized talents and researchers in the fields of science and knowledge for doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors. As well as creative individuals in the field of culture and art. The visa's advantages include the spouse and the children.

All categories are required to have a valid employment contract in a specialised in fields of priority for the UAE, and the conditions for each category are defined as follows:

Doctors and specialists (at least 2 of the conditions mentioned below must be met)

•  The holder of a PhD degree from one of the top 500 universities in the world
•  The holder of an award or certificates of appreciation for the work in the applicant's jurisdiction
• Contribution to a major scientific research related to the work of the applicant
•  Published articles or scientific books in distinguished publications in the field of work of the applicant
•  Membership in an organization related to the work of the applicant, which requires excellent work to accept membership
•  PhD degree in addition to 10-year professional experience in the applicant's field of work.
•  Specialization in areas of priority to the UAE (additional requirement for doctors)
•  Scientists must be accredited by the Emirates Scientists Council.
•  Holders of the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Excellence.

Creative individuals in culture and art must be accredited by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development Inventors. Obtain a patent of value added to UAE’s economy with the approval of the Ministry of Economy Exceptional Talents. Those who have exceptional talents that are documented by patents or scientific research published in world-class journals.

Executives: Owners of leading, well-known and internationally recognised companies - Holders of high academic achievement, professional experience, and position (eg, an engineer in a rare speciality with a university degree and working in a private company in the UAE). The inclusion of this category aims at maintaining current competencies and attract new competencies.

Outstanding students: The decision also includes provisions for granting a five-year visa to outstanding students with a grade of at least 95per cent in public secondary schools in public and private schools, and a distinction of at least 3.75 GPA upon graduation from universities within and outside the country. Benefits include families of the outstanding students.

UAE Travellers don’t need permission for regular medicines

permission for import of personal medicine for travellers. Residents and tourists travelling to the UAE do not need prior approval to carry regular medicines for personal use, the Ministry of Health and Prevention has clarified on its website, laying to rest several queries that had arisen due to the ministry spokesperson’s earlier statements.

The ministry spokesperson had said that travellers carrying any kind of personal medication to the UAE would require to mandatorily register on the ministry’s website and obtain approval to carry them. The ministry has now clarified that this only applies to narcotic-based, psychotropic and controlled medicines and is not mandatory for regular medicines.

A detailed list of narcotic-based, psychotropic and controlled medicines mentioned in Schedule IV of the UAE Narcotic Law 14 of 1995 is available on the ministry’s website.

The banned list also contains medicines that are not registered in the UAE, herbal medicines that might contain some banned substances, medical devices that might contain banned medication and medicines that have been discontinued in the UAE. ?Other than the list of the medicines and chemical compositions mentioned on the website, all other medicines are deemed ‘regular’ or prescription-only medication (POM). The website explains: ‘Prescription-only medicines (POM) are medical preparations not listed in Schedule IV of Narcotic Law 14 of 1995 of UAE, even if their use is permitted in the country of departure.

These must not contain any of the substances mentioned in the International Control Drugs conventions or on the list of Controlled registered medicines mentioned in the ministry’s controlled drug annexure.

Although the guidelines mentioned at the link state that all medication including general medicine requires to be registered, a call representative at the ministry’s toll-free line 80011111 clarified that as of now people carrying POMs do not need to register themselves or seek formal approval from the ministry.

Residents and tourists to UAE can carry their POMs without having to seek prior approval, provided they fulfil three prerequisites. These include a doctor’s prescription, a medical report that explains why the individual requires the medication and the quantity of medication are restricted to a duration of not more than three months.

Residents and tourists can log on to the ministry website and go to the section entitled ‘individual services’.

UAE central bank removes the cap on real estate loans

UAE central bank removes 20% cap on real estate loans, Banking Federation chief says

The Central Bank of the UAE lifted a 20 per cent cap on real estate lending as a percentage of the total deposits of banks, the chairman of the UAE Banks Federation said.

The restriction was removed through a law issued in October, however, a new ceiling on lending was not put in place, Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair said on Sunday in Dubai. The banking body is working with the regulator to “define what is real estate” and whether loans for assets such as hospitals, schools, malls and mortgage lending, where the source of repayment is the salary of the borrower, can be classified as real estate loans, he added.

“With the new law, there is no restriction … it has been lifted,” said Mr Al Ghurair. “The 20 per cent cap on loan exposure to banks was prescribed in the law No 10 and that has now been abolished.”

A spokesman of the Central Bank could not be reached immediately, and the regulator did not reply to questions seeking clarity on the issue.

A law was issued by President Sheikh Khalifa on October 28 replacing legislation from 1980, raising the capital of the Central Bank to Dh20 billion. It also called for the establishment of a general reserve of up to four times the paid-up capital of the regulator. The decree also sets three major objectives for the regulator: protecting the stability of the financial system; ensuring prudent management of foreign reserves and maintaining the stability of the national currency to achieve balanced growth of the national economy.

A Central Bank statement on the new regulation, however, did not specifically address the issue of the removal of the real estate loan restrictions.

The fixed 20 per cent cap, Mr Al Ghurair said, has now been replaced with a more flexible policy whereby the central bank may choose to impose the restrictions on the banking sectors’ loans to the real estate sector, depending on its views on the health of the realty sector in the economy.

“In the past, it was prescribed in the law so the central bank had no choice but to apply. Today the Central Bank may say 20 per cent or 10 per cent or 30 per cent overnight,” he said. “The flexibility is with the central bank, which is the right thing to do as these are tools you use depending on the cycle of the economy.”

There’s no timeline as to when the regulator will define which loans will be classified as real estate sector loans in the UAE, he noted.

“It’s a work in progress," Mr Al Ghurair said. "We [Banking Federation] have given what we think [is right] and we are waiting from the central bank to decide what will go into that [real estate sector loans],” he said. “That’s a $100m question”.

Separately, bank loans are projected to grow 5 per cent next year, Mr Al Ghurair said.

Most of the banks in the UAE have gone through the worst cycle of lending growth and write-offs for bad loans, he said, adding: "Now what we have is the business as usual [and] provisions, depending on what business you are in.”

Banks in the UAE are forecast to maintain strong capital and profitability as government infrastructure spending in Dubai, as well as Abu Dhabi's fiscal stimulus package,  will bolster economic growth, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report last week.

The UAE Central Bank expects growth to reach 2.8 per cent this year and 4.2 per cent next year. The banking sector overall is also expanding with credit growth to the private sector rising 6.5 per cent in the first nine months of this year, Mubarak Al Mansoori, the Central Bank's Governor, said last week.

UAE amnesty scheme extended by one month

The scheme, which began on August 1, was earlier scheduled to end on Wednesday, October 31, has been extended until December 1, the Federal Authority of Identity and Citizenship announced

Brigadier Saeed Rakan Al Rashidy, Acting Director-General of Foreigners and Ports Affairs at the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, said the decision to extend the deadline came  to offer greater assistance to all those living in the UAE who have yet to fully legalise their status.

Great demand

The nine amnesty centres continue to witness several great demand with high footfall of amnesty seekers, he added. After deliberating on the matter, the authorities decided that extending the amnesty period for those who haven't fully completed their paperwork.

"There was some delay in processing applications at the start of the amnesty period due to some technical issues," Al Rashidy said. "Extending the deadline also helps counteract the effect of the delay some amnesty seekers may have faced."

Some embassies and consulates from a few countries were unable to issue or process documents in a timely fashion, causing further delays, according to the Brigadier.

He asked consulates and embassies to fully cooperate and push for greater efficiency in processing the documents for their citizens in time. Authorities have warned that those who are caught staying illegally in the country after the end of the amnesty programme will have to face tough penalties.