Dubai: Residents are responsible for the authenticity of tenancy contracts they submit to apply for residency or other visas, officials have warned.
Applicants whose tenancy contracts are found to be forged could get more than three years in jail and deportation, Senior Chief Prosecutor Ali Humaid Bin Khatem, Head of the Naturalisation and Residency Prosecution (NRP), said. He cautioned the public not to fall prey to fraudsters operating through bogus online advertisements.
“We have noticed a phenomenal increase in forging and/or using forged tenancy contracts. We have encountered around 71 such cases from the middle of 2013 till December this year,” Bin Khatem told the media on Tuesday during a joint press conference with officials from Dubai’s General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA).
Colonel Khalaf Ahmad Al Gaith, assistant to the GDRFA’s general director for follow-up on illegal residents and foreigners, said: “We are using the media to warn the public. Thanks to the unified system between GDRFA, Dubai Land Department and Real Estate Regulatory Authority [Rera], we have exposed many cases of forged contracts.”
Around 44 typing centres are involved in forging tenancy contracts and providing them to residents to apply for visas or residencies at GDRFA, he added.
“Individuals, who use forged tenancy contracts when applying for visas or residencies, are considered criminals. They will be prosecuted and tried even if they did not forge the contracts or even if they were not aware that the contracts were forged. Residents should double-check the contracts’ authenticity and validity. They should also confirm the details before applying for visas or residencies. It is not a difficult thing to do,” Col Al Gaith said.
“We encountered a case in which a clerk had advertised on Dubizzle that he sells tenancy contracts. After obtaining prosecutors’ permission, we raided his residence and found that he had 41 SIM cards which he had been using to place ads and promote his business of forged tenancy contracts. He charged clients Dh1,400 per contract,” Col Al Gaith said.
Bin Khatem added: “The official tenancy contract has to be stamped by Rera… it’s a very simple thing to do. Why should someone risk being prosecuted over forged contracts? Yet plenty of fraudsters tend to forge contracts to process visas and bring in people who could be potential criminals.”
