NEWS & INSIGHTS

A new report has indicated that the Dubai property market is maturing as rent prices continue to fall throughout 2016. The report, issued by Core UAE, the real estate consultancy affiliated with Savills, compares rental declines in apartments which have […]

The UAE will reduce domestic prices for gasoline in March while raising them for diesel, the ministry of energy said on Sunday. The price of a litre of octane 95 gasoline will fall to 1.36 dirhams (37 US cents) from […]

The director-general of the Dubai Land Department has urged tenants to challenge landlords over arbitrary rent increases, insisting they should only be in line with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)’s annual rental index. Tenants who feel aggrieved by “unjustified” […]

Dubai tourism chiefs have launched new detailed rules to regulate the city’s growing holiday home sector which already has licensed 57 operators and more than 1,600 properties registered. The Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has announced executive […]

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage has announced that 66 islands are now ready for investment. Rustom Al-Kubaisi, head of Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage branch in Jizan, said development on the uninhabited islands has started, […]

The UAE is reportedly set to implement 5 percent VAT from January 1, 2018, with 150 food items, health and education exempted, a senior official was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial […]

There are 36,000 illegal expat employees in Bahrain, a drop from around 60,000 six months ago, it was claimed this week. Ali Al Kooheji, operations vice-president of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) reportedly said during a meeting on Wednesday: […]

The importance attached to having a UAE passport has continued to increase in the past year, according to the annual Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index. The index, which gives an insight into the development of visa policies over the […]

Immigration authorities in the United Arab Emirates have begun allowing foreign nationals to enter the country on short-stay visit visas and apply for work permits in country, as officials seek to alleviate processing delays associated with new work permit documentation […]

Indian residents in the UAE can now provide health insurance for their families back home, reported The National newspaper. This is due to a collaboration between the UAE’s Aster DM Healthcare and RAK Insurance which offers policies costing between $61 […]

Bahrain also joins travel ban after Saudi halted $4bn aid to Lebanon army in response to “hostile” Hezbollah positions. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid travelling there. The move […]

Notorious for imposing harsh penalties on foreigners who overstay their visas, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) declared an amended campaign to deter those who overstay the allotted duration of their visas. While foreigners have always been subject to […]