Ajman: The Ajman Naturalisation and Residency Department has stopped issuing and renewing investors' visas for freehold property owners in Ajman, Gulf News has learnt.
Property buyers and investors cannot even get a visit visa for their spouses or children, but most developers are still selling properties on promises of a residence visa.
Sources told Gulf News that no residence or visit visas will be issued to those who buy properties.
"In order to obtain a residence visa one must have a business here or a job. Unemployed people will not be issued a visa even if they own freehold property," the source said.
"We will not even renew visas of freehold owners," the official said.
Ajman is the second emirate to have made an about turn on the crucial issue after Dubai - after years of assurance of visa sponsorship linked to property ownership.
More than 20,000 foreigners have already moved to their freehold homes in Dubai, and a few hundred have been handed over to buyers in Ajman - which has seen a massive construction in recent months.
"This step was taken in order to regulate the visa rules. Some used to buy an apartment to obtain a residence visa and then sell the apartment to somebody else who already had a visa," the source said.
