NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
Homeowners gain right to residency
ABU DHABI - MAY 03: Foreigners buying a home valued at more than Dh1 million will be eligible for a six-month renewable residency visa under a new federal law announced yesterday.
The resolution passed by Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Minister of Interior, grants such property owners a multiple-entry residency visa that can be renewed every six months upon leaving and re-entering the UAE.
A statement by the Ministry of Interior said: “The ruling is for the good of those expatriates who have found an oasis of peace and stability in the UAE, and decided as a result to own real estate in the country. Because the ruling is also considerate of family stability and relations, it affords the owner’s wife and children the same residency privileges.”
In addition to the minimum value of the property, the applicant must be the sole owner of the house or apartment – empty land does not count – and “the structure must be suitable for living and appropriate for the size of the family”.
Since the visa does not give the holder the right to work in the country, the home owner must also show proof of a regular income of at least Dh10,000 a month or its equivalent in foreign currency.
The owner and his wife and children must also pass the country’s mandatory health screening for residents.
“The period of stay in the country for home owners is six months from the date of entry. Upon expiration of this period, the homeowner must return to his or her home country or travel to any GCC destination before re-entering the UAE, assuming all conditions are met,” the new ruling says.
The six-month residency visa will be issued as a document that is separate from the home owner’s passport, and will include all his immediate family members.
It was not immediately clear if the wife and children could enter the country without the home owner, or whether the wife could be the owner and apply for the six-month visa for her immediate family.
In several emirates, including Dubai, prospective home owners seeking residency have previously relied on property developers to act as sponsors for visas. The three-year visa, which allowed the holder to live in the emirate but not to work, was a significant incentive for many buyers, especially those from Iran, Pakistan and India. However, there has been confusion over whether developers could actually guarantee these visas, as some promised, and whether the Department of Naturalisation and Residency would issue them. The situation was clearer in Abu Dhabi, where developers said there was not even the possibility of a residency visa for foreign buyers.
In February, the DNR announced the new law was forthcoming. At the time, Brig Gen Nasser al Minhali, the acting director general, said anyone buying a property, regardless of its price, would be granted a six-month renewable residency.
At the time, property market insiders said the introduction of a single property visa system for the whole country would benefit a housing market that has recently been less buoyant after several years of growth.
The types of properties currently available for Dh1m vary widely from one emirate to another. In Abu Dhabi, Dh1m would buy a one-bedroom, 858 sq ft apartment in the Al Muneera section of Al Raha Beach development.
In Dubai, Dh1m would buy a two-bedroom, 1,200 sq ft apartment at the Jumeirah Beach Residence. The money would go much further in Ajman, fetching a 2,366 sq ft, three-bedroom apartment in a complex near Ajman Creek.
Airport scanners check for signs of swine flu
ABU DHABI - MAY 03: More than 20,000 passengers arriving at the capital’s airport from countries affected by swine flu have been screened in the past two days, but so far, everyone has tested normal.
On leaving the aircraft, passengers are channelled through a cordoned-off area where medical staff in face masks operate two infrared scanners which project colour-coded images on screens.
Anyone who scans red will be taken aside for further tests, although all of those screened so far have given normal readings.
But while the tests are carried out on passengers whose journeys originate in affected countries, which include Canada and New Zealand, they are not routinely conducted on citizens of those countries who have travelled from elsewhere. However, random checks are carried out on passengers from all flights.
The machines, costing more than US$50,000 (Dh184,000), are already in use in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia. Dr Nizam Ali Khan, the supervisor of the airport medical clinic, said they would flag any temperature over 38°C. “Anything above that we would put someone aside. Then we reconfirm it with manual thermometers.”
Yesterday, a meeting of the Co-operation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also attended by Yemen, discussed measures to be taken against swine flu, the state news agency WAM reported.
In Mexico the number of suspected deaths from swine flu has been cut to 101, with no new fatalities reported yesterday. Only one person elsewhere is known to have died from the disease. In addition to Mexico, cases have been reported in Canada, China, South Korea, New Zealand, Israel, the United States and eight European nations.
Ajeeb the five-legged cat is feline fine
Ajeeb, a street cat with a spare leg, has passed a check-up at the British Veterinary Clinic in Abu Dhabi. Now he just needs a home. Andrew Henderson / The National
Abu Dhabi - MAY 03: Cats are known for having nine lives. But one unfortunate moggy is getting used to life with five legs.
Ajeeb, a ginger-coloured Arabian Mau, is a bizarre sight with a fully grown extra limb tucked between the front and back right legs just over his ribcage.
“In my 15 years of being a vet, I have never ever seen a five-legged cat,” said Dr Jonathan Hale of the British Veterinary Centre, who was examining Ajeeb after the animal had been rescued and neutered. The fifth leg, which also has an extra toe, is a fully grown non-functional limb. Dr Hale said it did not appear to handicap the gentle cat.
“The leg is a birth defect caused by the mother being exposed to toxins or carcinogens while pregnant, and if more such birth defects start appearing in animals here then it is an important indicator of changes in the environment and the effects of development and pollution.”
Dr Hale said it was not uncommon in the UK for owners to bring in cats with an extra toe that twisted and had to be extracted.
“But a whole full-grown extra leg? Truly a rare case.”
Ajeeb is one year old and is very friendly, something Dr Hale noted as probably being one of the animal’s ways of dealing with its deformity.
“I am sure Ajeeb realised early on it is special and that it needs help from humans, and so it made a choice to be friendly and extra trusting of people instead of running away,” said the vet, as Ajeeb purred and rubbed against him.
As for what to do with the extra leg, Dr Hale said it was best to let it be.
“It is not necessary for us to intervene unless there is a problem, and the cat does not seem to be in any pain and is not hindered by the extra leg,” he said, adding that the only problem would be that the limb might get entangled in something.
“The future owner will also have more toenails to clip and manicure.”
Ajeeb was rescued by Raghad Auttabashi, an animal lover who saw him trying to feed from bowls she had put out for her own cats. Ajeeb, whose name is Arabic for strange, was pushed away by the others.
“I just couldn’t leave him there on the streets without trying to help him somehow,” said Ms Auttabashi, who has adopted nine cats and has no room for another.
She decided to have Ajeeb neutered and his ear clipped so the municipality would not pick him up and destroy him as part of a campaign to free the streets of strays.
“It does not guarantee he won’t get picked up, but I just wanted to increase his chance of being adopted as he is so sweet, so intelligent and really special,” she said.
“I just hope we find him a good home,” she said.
The Arabian Mau is the indigenous cat of the Arabian Peninsula.