UAE expat on trial for forging tenancy contract for wife's visa

An Abu Dhabi expat went on trial for forging a tenancy contract to obtain a residence visa to bring his wife to the UAE.
The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court on Monday heard that the Syrian man had enclosed the forged lease contract that also had a stamp from the municipality with the visa application. He then submitted it to the Abu Dhabi Residency and Foreigners Affairs Department.
The wife was apparently staying in Syria and the man wanted her to join him in Abu Dhabi to stay together. Official court documents stated that the department's employee processed the visa and he didn't notice the contract was forged.
When his wife reached UAE, she completed her fitness test for processing the Emirates ID. The man went back to the immigration office to get his wife's residence visa stamped in the passport. Officers, however, arrested him for forging an official document and submitting it to the department to obtain a visa for his wife.
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Investigations had revealed that the man's tenancy contract was a forged one and the stamp used on the contract was not in use. Prosecutors charged the Syrian with forgery and using of forged document to obtain a visa.
The man denied the charges of forgery but admitted to obtaining the tenancy contract from a man working at a typing center in the capital after paying him Dh3,000. "The man told me that he could get a tenancy contract for me and that I can use the document to sponsor my wife and obtain the visa. I paid him Dh3,000 for getting me the tenancy contract. I didn't forge any document," he told the court. He said he also gave the contact details and the address of the typing centre where he obtained the tenancy contract to authorities after he was arrested.
The judge ordered that the said worker of a typing centre be brought to court in the next hearing to give his testimony. The trial was adjourned until September.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com