Dewa to offer residency, visa services

Public to submit applications to new section set within authority's offices

Dubai: Public can now make their residency and visa applications at Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) offices following the opening of a new section — the Dubai General Department for Residency and Foreigners Affairs — at Dewa headquarters, east of Zabeel.

In its efforts to strengthen cooperation with strategic partners, Dewa opened an office for the residency department following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Monday.

The office will offer all related residency services to the public.

Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, Managing Director of Dewa, said the authority will provide the necessary support and facilities for the residency office.

Major-General Mohammad Al Merri, director-general of the residency department said the office will provide services to public services from 7.30am to 8pm.

He said that the department's offices numbered 23 in total.

Transfer sponsorship without NOC

A reader in Dubai asks: I have been working in a company for two years; currently, I am not stable with the company, as my salary is often delayed. My question here is; I would like to know the requirements to transfer sponsorship without the need to get a letter from my sponsor as per the labour law.

The Ministry of Labour allows the worker to transfer sponsorship to a new sponsor without the need to get a no objection certificate (NOC) from the existing sponsor according to the following cases: The worker’s salary has been delayed for two months or more. In the event of arbitrary dismissal, provided a judgment passed by the competent court confirms such an arbitrary dismissal.

Questions answered by Advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Bahar Advocates and Legal Consultants.

A new property law in the capital maintains the existing five per cent rent cap

A new property law in the capital maintains the existing five per cent rent cap and restrictions on the eviction of tenants, according to new legislation signed by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in his capacity as Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

Changes were made only to certain articles of the law, No 20 of 2006, but article 23 that specifically spells out reasons for eviction was left unchanged.

Under the law, landlords cannot ask tenants to vacate except in specific cases, like approved demolition, for personal use, if tenants fail to pay rent, if tenants sublet the property without the approval of the landlord or violate public norms.

Complaints

In the case of demolition of the building, tenants must be given a grace period of not less than six months to vacate. If the landlord fails to live in the property, he had asked to be vacated for personal use, for three months or re-lets it to another party, the tenant can complain to the Rent Disputes Resolution Committee.

The new legislation, which took effect from February 10, gives landlords and tenants the right to end the tenancy contract or change its terms, after giving two months' notice for residential property and three months for commercial and industrial property as well as professional offices.

"The new law removes a five year moratorium on the eviction of tenants, but it does not give a free hand to landlords to evict tenants," said lawyer Osama Abdul Aziz of the law firm Tarik Al Serkal.

The new law also creates a cassation committee and brings the existing Abu Dhabi Rental Disputes Resolution Committee, its appeal arm and the cassation panel under the authority of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department.

The chairmen of the rent, appeal and cassation panels, who used to be officers appointed by the Executive Council, will now be judges, according to the law.

Rulings by the rent committee on leases of up to Dh100,000 are final. Rulings on leases above Dh100,000 can be appealed within 15 days from the date of the ruling and cases related to leases worth more than Dh500,000 may be looked into by the cassation committee. Tenants have 30 days from the date of the ruling of the appeals committee to file with the cassation committee.

Tenants who are about to reach the end of their contracts still enjoy protection until November 9.

A landlord may ask to evict a tenant before the November 9 deadline provided the Rental Disputes Resolution Committee agrees on the grounds that "the occupancy causes serious harm to the landlord and provided the tenant had already been living there for not less than two years," according to the law. A grace period of not less than six months from the date of the committee's decision is granted.

Dubai's real estate regulatory agency (RERA)eyes new laws on property valuations

Dubai's real estate watchdog is looking to bring in new legislation to regulate how house valuations are conducted, following the slump in prices which saw well over $100bn wiped off the emirate's property market assets.

Dubai's real estate regulatory agency (RERA) is planning to publish new guidelines for the industry by mid 2010 in a bid to create a more professional real estate valuation system, a senior official has said.

Mohammed Khodr Al-Dah, head of RERA's Land Department Real Estate Appraisal Centre (Taqyeem), said: "Having recognised the increasing importance of accurate evaluation of real estate assets, RERA is currently working with the Dubai Land Department and other interested parties to draft appropriate legal guidelines to regulate how valuations are conducted."

His comments, published in the latest MENA House View report by Jones Lang Lasalle, come as property prices in the emirate have seen declines of more than 50 percent from 2008 peaks.

In the report, Jones Lang Lasalle said that the introduction of more professional valuation standards was "an essential precondition for rebuilding the trust and confidence required for the recovery of real estate markets across MENA".

"Accurate and regular valuations comprise an integral part of the sound investment and risk mitigation strategies that investors need to adopt as the real estate market faces continued uncertainties and only selected stability in 2010," the report added.

Jones Lang Lasalle said that while valuations were not the sole answer to reversing a trend of falling transaction volumes, they could "provide a catalyst for the improvement in certainty and transparency required for the markets to recover".

Transit visa procedure to exit airports in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah

Airline transit passengers travelling with a stopover at Dubai Airport (or other UAE airport) who do not leave the terminal building not needed a UAE visa since they are not entering the UAE. Citizens of UAE free arrival visa countries do not need to pre-arrange any visa whether they are in transit or travelling to Dubai as a destination.

Any other passenger who does want to exit the airport will need a UAE entry permit. By exit, we mean anyone who wants to go through passport control. A 96 hour transit visa is available to visitors to the UAE. Remember also that different emirates in the UAE might have different ways of implementing immigration rules. You can obtain a 96 hour transit visa in one of the following ways:

Pre-apply through the airline, travel agent, or UAE hotel that you are booked with. None of them are likely to arrange a transit visa for you unless you are a customer.

Obtain one on arrival in Dubai at the Marhaba services counter in Terminal 1, or the Emirates Hotels and Visas for Dubai desk in Terminal 3. This is not guaranteed, as the granting of the visa is subject to Dubai immigration department approval. You will need to buy at least one night in a Dubai hotel from Marhaba or Emirates to be issued a transit visa.

Citizens of the following countries are not eligible for the 96 hours visa on arrival: Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Niger, and Yemen.