UAE

7,000 new home grants to be handed out to Emiratis throughout 2013

Those whose salaries exceed Dh10,000 and are able to pay off their debts are offered loans, while those earning less than that amount are given grants.

The National staff

March 12, 2013

The Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme has approved 417 Emirati applications for home grants and loans worth Dh208 million.

The programme will allot 7,000 new home grants to be handed out on a monthly basis throughout the year, reported The National's Arabic sister paper Al Ittihad on Tuesday.

People whose salaries exceed Dh10,000 and are able to pay off their debts are offered loans, while those earning less than that amount are given grants.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the Minister of Public Works and Chairman of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, has ordered that the recipients of housing assistance be announced on a monthly basis, with beneficiaries coming from all emirates.

The beneficiaries will be sent text messages informing them about the final approval.

Emiratis can visit the programme's website, www.szhg.gov.ae, to know the procedures for obtaining aid.

The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

  • be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
  • not be younger than 25 years old
  • not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
  • be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
  • have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
  • undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
  • A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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If you go...

Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.

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