PESHAWAR, : The provincial home and tribal affairs department has issued fresh guidelines about renting of houses to foreigners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to officials.
They said that foreigners including diplomats and workers of international and local non-governmental organisations would be required to follow the new procedure while renting a house. The officials at home and tribal affairs department said that authorities concerned were given three months to comply with the guidelines. The new procedure was adopted keeping in view the prevailing security situation in the province, they said.
The officials said that a number of foreigners including workers of international organisations and companies had rented houses in residential areas in parts of province, especially the provincial capital. However, district administration and police didn’t maintain record of such houses, they added. The new guidelines issued to all the authorities concerned for further action were issued earlier this month. Under the new procedure all the government departments sponsoring the foreigners and international firms and NGOs would be required to inform home department about their intent of hiring a house for a foreigner besides providing address of the house.
Peshawar Development Authority, Directorate General of Excise and Taxation and police would maintain proper record of all houses, rented out to foreigners in the province and the provincial capital. The officials said that the record would be shared with the home department, headquarters of 11 Corps, Intelligence Bureau and Special Brach of police department. According to the new procedure, a contract should be signed about renting a house for a foreigner and documents including copy of the valid visa pages of machine readable passport and letter of employment of firm, NGO, consulates and embassies along with the copy of computerised national identity card of the sponsor or real estate agent should be attached with the contract. The same should be shared with the government departments concerned including police.
The officials said that under the new procedure the rented house should be occupied by the person, whose name was mentioned in the contract signed for the purpose. They said that the occupant or the owner would have to inform authorities if the house was vacated. The new procedure would also apply to the guest houses where foreign guests were provided stay. The guest houses would also maintain a record of guests and their arrival should be immediately intimated to the Special Branch of police for issuing them temporary residential permit. – Dawn
