People queue up outside Karama Post Office in Dubai to apply for the Emirates National ID. The deadline for Dubai applicants is May 31.
Abu Dhabi: From April onwards, residents in Dubai must register for an Emirates ID card immediately after applying for a residence visa, a senior official at the Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) confirmed on Tuesday.
This follows the linking of six major Preventive Medicine Centres (PMCs) in Dubai with the ID card registration process, Dr Ali Al Khouri, director general at the Eida told Gulf News.
"Visa applications are already linked to ID card registration in all other emirates. In Dubai, this linkage took a while as we wanted to ensure that the country's largest PMC, which is also open 24 hours and processes nearly 3,000 visas on a daily basis, could handle the load," Dr Al Khouri said.
The rollout of the system in Dubai completes a countrywide scheme that links the Population Register and National ID Card (PRIDC) and visa applications. The linkage is already in place in all the other emirates.
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With this integration, an expatriate who goes for medical examination at one of the PMCs for visa purposes can then go directly to an Emirates ID centre annexed to the PMC to complete the registration procedure.
The new ID card will be issued by Eida only upon the issuance of a residency visa by the relevant entity, explained an Eida official.
The deadline for Abu Dhabi residents over the age of 15 years to apply for an ID card is set for the end of March; for Dubai residents, the deadline is end-May.
Once these deadlines lapse, "delay fees" will be charged to applicants, the official said.
Fee range
"The fees range from Dh20 to Dh25 per day, with a maximum fee of Dh 1,000 for delayed registration. On our website, we have already put in place a counter to remind Abu Dhabi residents about the deadline, and will update the counter for Dubai residents once the Abu Dhabi deadline lapses," Dr Al Khouri said.
As such, an Abu Dhabi resident over the age of 15 who has a valid residence visa but has no national ID card or possesses an expired one, has until March 31 to apply for the card without being charged "delay fees", while for a Dubai resident, the deadline is May 31.
The official also reminded employers not to wait for the last minute as nearly 90 per cent of residents who have not yet applied for ID cards are blue-collar workers.
"Employers must therefore ensure that their workers apply for the cards before the deadlines," he said.
Nearly 6.2 million — or 77.5 per cent of about eight million inhabitants across the country — have already registered for Emirates ID cards, and about 30,000 applications are still being filled out every working day at over 1,200 typing centres across the country.
"The year 2012 will continue to be a challenging year for Eida, with nearly four to six million new applications and ID card renewals expected to be processed over the year," the official said.
He added that Eida operation volumes would reach "normal" levels of two to three million applications and renewals over a period of one year only in 2013.
Residents on their relatives’ sponsorship must leave the UAE to obtain an employment visa. Picture is used for illustrative purpose.
Dubai: Women on relatives’ sponsorship have to leave the country before they can transfer their visa to employment, according to officials from the residency department.
Officials said that any woman sponsored by her relatives and wishing to transfer her sponsorship to employment visa must leave the country in order to be able to be issued the employment visa.
The officials said that if a woman is on her husband, father, brother or any relative’s sponsorship and she want to transfer her it to her employer, the relative must obtain an air ticket in her name and bring it to the residency department in order to cancel her visa.
The officials explained that the woman will be given seven days in order to leave the country.
“When the employment visa from the ministry of labour is ready then the woman can enter the country again,” the officials said.
Previously, the move was only applicable to expatriates who entered the country on visit visas and wished to change it to employment. Adjusting the legal status for everyone used to cost Dh500, without the need to leave the country.
The official said that this facility does not exist any more and all who are on their relatives’ sponsorship must leave the country to obtain employment visa. People questioned the move and said that this will make their life difficult.
“Why does a mother or wife or daughter living in the country on residence visa have to exit the country in order to obtain employment visa? What is the use of this move,” asked Raji from India.
Les George from Philippines said his wife has been on his sponsorship for almost 10 years and now she has found a job but he was surprised when asked by the residency officers that he should bring an air ticket for her in order to cancel her visa and that she should leave the country in order to transfer her sponsorship to the employer.
“I visited the residency department today with the hope of cancelling my wife’s residence Visa, so that she can transfer to her company sponsorship. My wife, Mary, works as a Store Manager for a private company here,” he said.
“I was advised by residency officers to first pay all outstanding fines that may have incurred due to her overstaying,” he said.
“As per the instructions I visited the bank and made the necessary payments,” he said. He added that following this he approached the officer at the counter, who had earlier assured that should he clear all outstanding fines, and acquire a valid Transfer Work Permit from the Ministry of Labour, he could transfer his wife’s visa and that she does not need to leave the country for visa change.
“However, today I was told that this was not possible and that she will have to leave the country in order for her visa to be cancelled, and that only after this, could her company apply for a new Visa despite the fact the residency staff themselves having told me last week to obtain for her the transfer work permit from ministry of labour,” he said.
Les said that despite the fact that he is worried about his wife who has to go to Kish Island for visa change, he has no choice but to send her.
“When I checked with the officer why she should exit and come despite the fact that he himself said to me last week that there was no need for her to exit, the officer said ‘thats was last week and we are in another week’,” he said.
“It takes us time to obtain the permit from labour upon the instruction of the residency officers and that increases my wife’s fine after I had paid and cleared the fine. If the officer told me from the beginning that this was not possible, he would saved his time, our time and money,” he said.
In 2004, the UAE government took decision to allow expatriates to amend their visa statu following a Kish Airline Fokker-50 crash as it was approaching Sharjah Airport on February 10. The plane was carrying people who had flown from the UAE to Kish Island so that they could change their visa status. Forty-eight people were killed in the crash, with just three survivors. After the crash, the UAE amended its visa rules, so that people in the country could change a visit visa to an employment visa by paying a Dh500 fee.
If you love to see new places and don’t have a European, UK or US passport, you probably get frustrated when traveling.
Crossing borders has always been a difficult ritual for third-country passport holders. They go through immense bureaucratic paper work and get stuck at immigration counters just to visit a foreign country.
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A St Kitts citizenship can be granted in 120 days, without a residence or visitation requirement, and the ability to travel to 139 countries around the world including the European Union, UK, Canada and Africa and Asia without the need for a visa.
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Balakrishnan Prabhu | CEO, founder of Best Citizenships
The good news is, if you’re a wealthy individual, you can buy your way into a second citizenship and declare yourself an Austrian, British or Belgian. What’s more, you can make money at the same time.
Forget about immigrant or 10-year multiple-entry tourist visas. Some of the world’s popular destinations, including Austria, Dominica, Saint Kitts & Nevis, UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Cyprus have their own investor programmes that offer high-net-worth individuals a chance to obtain a second passport in exchange of their investment.
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A few of these countries grant a citizenship without requiring candidates to even set foot on the country they’re applying. Applicants are, however, required to have at their disposal between Dh275,000 and Dh18 million, to be invested either in government bonds, real estate and in other forms of business, or set aside for a charity project.
Citizenship-by-investment programmes are increasingly becoming popular among well-heeled residents in the UAE and other countries in the GCC. It makes traveling easier when a family member needs to go abroad to study or an investor wants to explore opportunities elsewhere.
“One great advantage for high-net-worth individual acquiring a second passport is getting immense travel freedom to do business and pleasure, not just for investors but also for family members who always have a second home to move during political crisis and instability, thus seeking safety and privacy,” says Balakrishnan Prabhu, CEO, founder of Best Citizenships.
“It’s a great way to skip immigration hassles and bureaucratic paper work, when crossing borders. For example, a third-country national acquiring EU citizenship opens up entire EU and over 100 countries to do business and earn money,” he adds.
Best Citizenships assists clients on areas such as residence planning, citizenship and real estate consulting. They also cater to residents from the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait. “We have had clients from Kuwait, Pakistan and UAE who benefited from citizenship by investment,” says Prabhu.
Paul Hymers, financial director at Atlas Corporate Services, a global corporate and trust service provider, says one of the advantages of an alternative passport is the ability to open bank and stock brokerage accounts around the world as a citizen of the new country. Thus, investing in a second citizenship benefits not only third-country passport holders, but also expats from other countries including the US who want to minimize their tax bills.
“By definition, expats living in the UAE only are no longer resident in their home country and not subject their tax regulations on their UAE or other overseas income. So for these people, simply by living in the UAE, they have the perfect opportunity to reorganize their assets from an international tax planning perspective,” says Hymers.
The Australian government has announced only this year a new program, the Significant Investor visa, which allows wealthy investors to acquire a permanent residency down under.
The only requirement is that each foreigner should be able to invest Australian $5 million into the country. Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen said the new visa will make it “easier for investors coming to Australia by offering some concessions on visa requirements, such as not having to meet a points test and reduced residence requirements.”
Range Developments, a Dubai-based real estate developer, recently introduced the construction of Park Hyatt resort, a multi-million project in the Caribbean that allows investors from around the world to buy shares and earn a second citizenship at the same time.
The resort will be built on the Eastern Caribbean island of St. Kitts, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and will be financed under the St. Kitts & Nevis Citizenship by Investment Program through the sale of individual investment shares for $400,000.
A St. Kitts citizenship can be granted in 120 days, without a residence or visitation requirement, and the ability to travel to 139 countries around the world including the European Union, UK, Canada and Africa and Asia without the need for a visa, according to Mohammad Asaria, vice chairman of Range Developments.
Investors who put their money into this project can expect the annual investment yield to range between 2 per cent and 5 per cent, depending on the actual performance of the project, according to Munaf Ali, CEO of Range Developments. And with the cost for acquiring a St. Kitts citizenship rising every year, the investor also stands to make a capital gain when the investment is sold.
“Based on income and capital gain projections, the investor is expected to receive an amount equivalent to the capital invested and all fees that were paid at the outset following the expiry of a mandatory five-year holding period,” explains Ali. Since the project launch in Dubai last July and in Pakistan last month (September), there has been a consistent stream of investor interest. The launch in Pakistan alone drew more than 200 investors and dignitaries who were interested to know more about the project.
“The popularity (of citizenship-by-investment programs) has been on the rise for the past few years,” says Munaf Ali, CEO of Range Developments.
“Today’s investors are always looking out for good investment opportunities from a long-term perspective. These investors are businessmen/senior executives and are keen on expanding their business globally. However, many people face various restrictions, such as the visa restrictions and the time taken to apply for visas. A citizenship-by-investment program comes handy for these individuals and their families,” Ali points out.
Ali says that in today’s day and age, a person of talent needs borderless travel as businesses are far more international and global. “Making an active decision with regards to his citizenship gives them more personal freedom, privacy and security. In a nutshell, alternative citizenship gives people freedom to travel, to do business and security for your family and life.”
However, getting a second citizenship is not that easy. Only very few countries grant citizenships without any residency requirements like St. Kitts & Nevis and Austria.
In most cases, a candidate is required to live in the country for a certain period, usually for five to eight years, and ensure that their investment is on the right track.
For example, investors eyeing a UK passport have the option to first apply for an investor or entrepreneur visa. Both visas provide anyone the routes to have the right to apply for “Indefinite Leave to Remain” in the UK, a prerequisite to obtaining a citizenship.
To obtain the investor visa, the applicant has to invest a minimum of £1 million into UK government gilts (bonds) or share capital in active and trading UK-registered companies. The candidate should not spend more than 180 days per year outside the UK during the qualifying period. After living in the UK for five years (or less if the amount invested is £5 million or of £10 million), the investor visa holder can apply for “Indefinite Leave to Remain” (permanent residence).
For the entrepreneur visa, a minimum of £200,000 investment is required. The candidate can either set up a new business in the UK, acquire an existing business or become a director of an established business, but it must be successfully trading and have created two additional full-time positions within the company for the initial three-year residency visa to be extended for a further two years. After living in the UK for five years, the candidate can apply for “Indefinite Leave to Remain” (permanent residence).
“After fulfilling the requirements and having lived in the UK for a minimum of 185 days per year over the qualifying period, the candidate has the right to apply for ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’ in the UK. Citizenship can be applied for on the sixth year after first acquiring the right to apply for ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’,” explains Dominic Stoneham, director for business development at Entrepreneur Relocation UK (erUK), which assists clients seeking UK residency.
UK passport
Austria € 3-€4 million no yes yes yes (€3-4 million)
Belgium €400,000 yes yes yes no
Bulgaria €500,000 yes yes yes (unofficial)
Canada C$800,000 yes yes yes no
Dominica $75,000 yes yes - yes
Hong Kong HK$ 10 million not recognised yes yes no
Iceland - yes yes yes no (suspended)
Switzerland 250,000 francs/yr yes yes yes no
St.Kitts & Nevis $300,000 yes no - yes
United Kingdom £1 million yes yes yes no
Cyprus €15 million yes yes yes yes (unofficial)
Latvia Min €71,000 in Real no yes no
(rural outside Riga)
or €150,000 in capital Riga
Estate Investment
Singapore Min of SG$2.5 million
(approx $2 million) no yes yes no
Monaco €1 million and above no yes yes no
Montenegro €500,000 no yes yes yes
Panama Min $60,000 yes - yes no
Slovakia - - - - unknown
Slovenia - - - - unknown
United States Min $500,000
to $1 million yes yes yes (Green card) no
New Zealand NZ$ 1.5 million
(approx $1.1 million) yes - yes no
Bahamas $500,000 real estate no yes yes no
Panama Min $60,000
on Temporary Residence yes yes yes no
The entire UAE has a liberal outlook and is committed to free trade. The country has a modern business infrastructure with high-quality, high-tech office space and well-established travel logistics, a beneficial fiscal plan for corporations and individuals, and a confident business atmosphere. Contrary to popular belief, only 30% of the nation's gross domestic product comes from oil revenues—an even smaller percentage in Dubai because of its diverse, robust economy.
The UAE is a major consumer of U.S. goods and services, with $8.4 billion worth of imports. More than 500 U.S. companies have offices in the UAE, and nearly 20,000 Americans live and work here. The UAE and the U.S. are negotiating a future free trade agreement, but nothing has been decided yet.
If you are heading to the emirate for business, you might want to follow a few points of etiquette. Make sure that any brochures or materials you take are high-quality, and carry lots of business cards, printed in English and Arabic. English is widely used in the business world, but a few words of Arabic, a polite phrase or two, will be considered good manners by your Emirati clients.
Many Emirati businesses are family run, and you may be required to meet junior members of the firm to begin building a relationship before you are allowed to meet the real decision-makers.
Arrive for meetings on time, but know that punctuality is not highly valued and you may find yourself waiting to meet the client. Similarly, your meeting may be disrupted by telephone calls and even personal matters.
Business is not conducted in a vacuum here. At the beginning of a meeting it's normal to have a drink with your client (tea, coffee, or a soft drink—no alcohol) and to chat about general topics to build a bond. Oftentimes, business is done over a meal. If you receive an invitation for a meal, it is considered polite to respond in kind even if it prolongs your discussions.
Emirati businesspeople usually put greater emphasis on verbal agreement than most executives in the Western corporate world. In the UAE, your word is binding, so make sure you mean what you say when agreeing to terms, conditions, or prices. Other useful information:
Make sure any printed materials, such as brochures or pamphlets, don't have pictures of women that could be regarded as sexy or provocative. Don't include images of alcohol, people drinking alcohol, or pigs or pork.
Pointing is considered rude, so don't use a pointed finger to accentuate your words.
Be prepared to put a lot of time up-front into building relationships before you start seeing a return.
Haggling is at the heart of all business transactions, so factor this in to your pricing structure.
The silent one in the group is often the decision-maker, so address answers to all meeting attendees.
It's important to note that Dubai has a different attitude than other Arab countries toward women in business. For example, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait have much stricter rules regarding dress and behavior. Here are some things to consider:
At large multinational conventions or smaller meetings with Arab female staff or clients, you may find tables labeled "women only." Women aren't required to use these tables, but men are required to sit elsewhere, allowing women to separate themselves from male company if they choose to do so.
At formal dinners women and men may be seated at different tables or on different sides of the room.
Women can wear standard feminine Western business dress—meaning no short skirts, no midriff-baring, and no cleavage on show. Slacks are acceptable. If possible, clothing should be loose-fitting so as not to draw attention to the shape of the body.
Some Muslim men won't touch women to whom they are not related or married. Take your cue on handshakes from your host. If he offers his hand, shake it; otherwise make eye contact and nod in acknowledgement as you are introduced to each other.
Dubailand: Coming to a Desert Near You
Dubai's pleasure dome is a colossal fun-park. At 3 billion square feet, it's bigger than Disneyland and Disney World combined, more than four times the size of Manhattan, and covers the equivalent of 52,000 football fields. Dubailand will be the king of all themed entertainment complexes, including 26 megaparks and dozens of smaller-scale attractions. An eclectic range of organizations and individuals are investing funds in Dubailand—Tiger Woods, Dreamworks, and the Natural History Museum in London. Each brings expertise to the plate to draw crowds from around the world.
At press time the only completed projects were the Dubai Autodrome, the Ernie Els golf course, and the Dubai Outlet Mall. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. New delights will continue to be unveiled between now and 2018, when the finished project estimates 15 million visitors a year.
In 2007 Universal Studios announced that its fourth park—6.5-million square feet in size and a $2.2 million investment—will be built here. Other investors are less well known but their plans are just as grand. Falcon City of Wonders, designed to look like a bird of prey with outstretched wings, will feature life-size copies of some of the world's most iconic architecture. Visitors will be able to experience the Italian dolce vita at the City of Rome or the joie de vivre of Paris' Eiffel Tower, which will double as a hotel. At City of Arabia, the Restless Planet Dinosaur Park will immerse you in a Jurassic land with more than 100 life-size animatronic dinosaurs foraging and hunting near active volcanoes while being bombarded by meteors. Meanwhile Legends of the World will offer a sampling of the world's ecosystems in miniature. The Great Dubai Wheel will be the second largest in the world next to the one in Shanghai and will offer exceptional views extending 50 mi out on a clear day. Each park in Dubailand will have its own luxury resort accommodation, and Bawadi—a 6-mi strip running through the core of the complex—will host 51 hotels offering a total of 60,000 rooms. The mall of Arabia, located in Bawadi, will be the largest in the world.
For those who can't wait to see the final product, Dubailand headquarters has produced an impressive, to-scale model of the developing complex, complete with moving parts and neon lights.
