Tag Archives: hotel
Man pays PRO for visa, spends one night in detention
Man pays PRO for visa, spends one night in detention Marie Nammour / 2 March 2014 Legally speaking, if you want a thing well done, do it yourself; never trust a person you hardly know with handling your sensitive documents. Take for instance the case of Samir (name changed), who took the easy way out to sponsor his 4-month-old daughter’s residence visa by seeking the services of a PRO. However, after making the due visa payments, instead of getting the visa, he found himself involved in a forgery case. Samir, 26, works as a manager in a real estate firm and lives in a hotel apartment. He told Khaleej Times that since the day he trusted the PRO with his daughter’s visa application, his life has taken a turn for the worse. Samir claims he paid the PRO Dh2,500 to have the visa issued and to cover expenses such as typing, medical fitness fees, Emirates ID fees, and other typing expenses. He went to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) on November 20 last year to collect the visa. “He told me I need to go in person to collect the visa since I am the girl’s father.” To his surprise, he was apprehended by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers and taken to Al Aweer Detention Centre where he spent one night. He was released on bail after depositing his passport. “I have been told at the Land Department that my Ejari certificate was forged. It bore a serial number that belongs to a tailor shop’s tenancy contract while its details are mine. The PRO forged it.” KT has learnt that the police are on the lookout for the PRO in connection with the case. “This whole thing happened when my daughter was only one-month old. Now she’s almost four-months old and I have not got the chance to hold her yet.” Samir said he loves Dubai and doesn’t want to be deported because of someone else’s wrongdoing. He submitted an authentic tenancy contract and was unaware the Ejari letter was forged, he claimed. His case is currently under investigation by the Naturalisation and Residency Prosecution. “I never told that man to forge any document for me. I paid him for his services and enclosed my application with authentic documents. I was not aware of what he did with it.” Legal procedure Hotel apartment residents should submit their tenancy documents at the GDRFA, as the Land Department in Dubai is no longer issuing tenancy contract registration certificates or Ejari letters in such cases. An Ejari customer service employee said that residents living in hotel apartments and wanting to sponsor a family member should submit their tenancy contracts, among other documents, for verification at the GDRFA. “We, in Ejari, register tenancy contracts for residents of residential flats when they apply for visas for a family member. As for the residents who live in hotel apartments they should submit their tenancy documents for verification at the GDRFA.” The applicant should also get a letter from the hotel stating that he is a tenant of a room at the hotel paying a specific annual rent. The letter should bear the hotel manager’s signature and be stamped with the hotel’s official seal, according to the Ejari employee. Earlier, Ali Humeid bin Khatem, the head of the Naturalisation and Residency Prosecution, in an interview with KT , urged all residents to refrain from forging and presenting forged tenancy contracts registration certificates because “they would be caught and be held legally accountable”. He advised the residents who want to sponsor their relatives to avoid fraudulent ways when applying for visas. “They should indeed have a rented flat or own property so that they could provide the required documents to be able to sponsor their relatives,” the Chief Prosecutor said. Thanks to the Ejari programme, he said, forgery cases are being easily detected and exposed. “The Ejari staff, available at the Residency and the Land departments as well as in several other branches across Dubai, are there to verify the authenticity of the tenancy contracts and then issue the visa applicants tenancy contract registration certificates.” Penalty for forgery According to article 217 of the Federal Penal Code, whoever forges an official document shall be sentenced to a period not exceeding five years in prison. According to article 121 of the Federal Penal Code, the courts, both Criminal and the Misdemeanours, may order the deportation of the accused, if found guilty, in forgery cases. mary@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Dubai hotels excel in profit levels in the region in 2013
Dubai hotels excel in profit levels in the region in 2013 Issac John / 31 January 2014 The emirate plans to double its visitor numbers in seven years. Hotels in Dubai reported the highest profit levels in the region in 2013 for the fourth consecutive year, and ended the year with occupancy above 80 per cent as rates surged, according to the latest HotStats survey of full service four and five star hotels in five Mena markets by TRI Hospitality Consulting Middle East. Data shows that the hotel sector in Dubai and the UAE in general has been on an upswing. — Supplied photo In December, Dubai continued to record strong performance levels reflecting the continued growth experienced throughout the year. Although the market witnessed a 4.5 percentage points decline in occupancy to 79.5 per cent, a 9.1 per cent rise in Average Room Rates (ARR) to $368.22 drove Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) growth of 3.2 per cent to $292.70, the report said. Data compiled by STR Global also shows that hotel sector in Dubai and the UAE in general has been on an upswing. With Expo 2020 in the offing, Dubai plans to double its visitor numbers from 10 million to 20 million in seven years. Philip Wooller, area director of Middle East and Africa for STR Global, said it would be a fascinating journey for Dubai. Announcements will soon be released for all the new projects in the run up to the event, Wooller said. “The numbers alone suggest the hotel supply will need to nearly double from the existing 68,000 rooms to 120,000 rooms.” In December, the Middle East/Africa region reported positive results with a 3.0 per cent increase in occupancy to 59.5 per cent, a 4.2-per cent increase in average daily rate to $180.65 and a 7.3-per cent increase in revenue per available room to $107.44. According to HotStats, average rates and RevPAR for Dubai hotels in December exceeded levels witnessed throughout the year and helped push year to date figures up 6.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent, respectively. Bottom line performance levels in December were boosted by a 2.8 per cent rise in Total Revenue Per Available Room (TRevPAR), which was driven by increased MICE revenues and coupled with lower operating costs. Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room (GOPPAR) for the month increased 3.9 per cent to $260.00 and helped drive year to date figures up 10.3 percent to $206.05, the report said. Peter Goddard, Managing Director of TRI Hospitality Consulting, said occupancy levels in December 2013 were marginally lower than December 2012, which is attributed to an increase in supply compared to the same period last year; however average rates were maintained by the minimum stay agreements imposed by hotels during the festive season. “A combination of stable demand and increased confidence in the market resulted in hoteliers applying more aggressive yielding strategies which resulted in average rates rising 6.5 per cent to $324.44 in 2013,” said Goddard. Jeddah witnessed growth in all key performance indicators for the month of December as corporate demand surged in the city. The combined effects of a 5.2 percentage point rise in occupancy to 73.3 per cent coupled with a 1.9 per cent increase in ARR drove RevPAR up 9.7 per cent to $171.05 in Jeddah Doha hotels experience stronger demand, however rates and profits continue to fall. “Doha Hotels continued to struggle to elevate key performance indicators which remained under pressure during December, despite a 3.1 percentage point rise in occupancy to 63.3 per cent. On-going rate reductions resulting from high levels of competition fuelled a 20.8 per cent decline in ARR to $226.99 which in turn, drove RevPAR down 16.8 per cent to $143.71,” the report said. — issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
2 Bedroom Apartment For Sale in Pomorie, Bulgaria for GBP 91,600
Brought to you by International Dreams Ltd http://www.internationaldreams.co.uk/search-results/2-bed-apartment-in-sunset-resort-pomorie-bulgaria/ To view vid… Continue reading