Emirates City Forum

Investors in the Paradise Lakes Towers project at Emirates City, Ajman, are facing uncertainty over whether they will be issued visas when the building – which is already late by a year – is handed over to them.

The confusion arises because of changes to the rules governing the issue of visas to expatriate residents who buy property in the UAE.

The new regulation says visas will be issued only to the owners of properties that are not less than Dh1 million – and it is this clause that is worrying the Paradise Lakes Towers investors. "We are not sure whether we will get a visa since the value of our property is far less than the stipulated Dh1m," said a buyer who has purchased one unit in the B5 tower.

"The developers have, however, said they are trying to get the issue sorted out. We will lose a lot if we don't get the visa."

Another investor in the project, which is being marketed and sold exclusively by real estate company Sweet Homes, said: "I bought this unit in my father's name so he could obtain a residency visa after reaching 60 and stay with me in the country." Clause seven of the purchase agreement signed by investors says: "The purchaser shall have the right to acquire a permanent residence visa for him and his dependents and will have to pay to the seller a visa fee of Dh1,500 for each family member to be paid once every three years. The visa will be renewable automatically."

And clause eight says: "The purchaser and members of his family shall comply with all conditions of UAE Ministry of Interior as well as the Department of Naturalisation and Residency, and the seller will not be responsible in case the said authorities reject their application for residence visa. The visa will expire in case the property or unit is sold."

However, in May this year Lt-General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, issued a new resolution that said the owners of properties in the UAE could enter the country and stay for up to six months with an entry permit or a multi-visit entry visa.

The owner is required to submit a multi-trip entry visa application and meet a number of conditions. The property should be built-up, which means the owners of plots of land are excluded. The owner should obtain a title from the property registration authority in the emirate and the unit, whether a house, or an apartment, should be wholly owned by the person concerned.

The value of the unit should not be less than Dh1m and the property should be fit for the accommodation of a family. The owner can include his spouse and children on the visa application and should arrange insurance cover for the entire family valid for the duration of their stay in the country.

In addition the owner should have fixed income of not less than Dh10,000 per month or the equivalent in foreign currency, whether from inside or outside the country – though the visa does not give the owner the right to work in the country. If the terms are not met, the permit shall be declared null and void.

One investor, who was recently laid off, is not sure how he will deal with the company from his home country.

"I have lost my job and plan to return to India," he said. "I have already paid 50 per cent of the value of my unit. Fortunately, I did not give Sweet Homes any cheques for the rest of the payments even though they kept sending me mails for the balance."

Asked whether non-payment would lead to the forfeiture of his property, the investor said his contract said the remaining 50 per cent had to be paid on handover.

"I am relaxed since I have to pay the remaining amount on handover. I don't have to worry about the payment."

Investors say the project has already been delayed by a year and the developer is now promising to deliver units in December this year. However, they are not sure whether it will be completed by then and are seeking the rescheduling of monthly installments or the linking of them to construction milestones.

Last week, Omar Al Barguthi, Director-General of the Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Agency, told Emirates Business that he was working on a regulation to link payments to construction milestones though no timescale had been set for its implementation.

A further worry for the Paradise Lakes investors is that Sweet Homes has encashed cheques that should have been banked only at the time of handover.

"I gave Sweet Homes a cheque for Dh27,600 to be encashed at the time of completion," said one investor whose family has bought three units. "But it was encashed in December last year even though the building was still under construction."

Another investor said: "I bought this property in my father's name in October 2006 and was speaking to Sweet Homes on his behalf. However, they refused to speak to me since I was not the buyer. "We then thought we would change the names so we approached Sweet Homes, who told us to pay Dh4,000 for transferring the names."

However, the clause six of the sale agreement signed by the investor says: "If the second party [buyer] desires to sell the flat, he shall inform the first party [developer] and take his consent before completing the sale. An amount of Dh1,000 shall be collected from the seller and Dh1,000 from the new purchaser."

The investor added: "They just raised the transfer fee to Dh4,000 from Dh2,000, a 100 per cent increase, and told us to contact the developer for further clarification. They told us to pay the new charges."

Sweet Homes and R-Holding, the master developer of Paradise Lakes Towers, did not respond to questions from Emirates Business. Calls to Fahad Sattar Dero, CEO of Sweet Homes, were answered by his secretary who said he would respond to queries, but no replies were received.

Towers for the ultra-modern

The Paradise Lakes project is a group of towers [25-levels] "created to cater to the needs of those with an ultra-modern lifestyle", according to Sweet Homes website.

It is designed by Adnan Saffarini Engineering Consultants and is part of the Dh15 billion Emirates City. The project offers residences at affordable prices. Each tower has a five- storey built-in parking, four high-speed elevators, full floor exercise facilities, central air conditioning and satellite TV.

Emirates City includes 72 residential and commercial towers that will be launched in a phased manner. The towers range between 20 and 50 floors and will have access to park and lake views. The project will be available to all nationalities.