How to get the UAE Golden Visa: everything you need to know

Would you like to call Dubai your home?

Warm temperatures, secure living, tax-free income, sophisticated infrastructure, and stable banking system – the UAE provides unlimited benefits for personal life and business.

Dubai has an excellent approach to introducing investor-friendly policies. Since its implementation, the UAE Golden Visa system became very popular among certain groups of expatriates with plans of securing permanent residency in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is a visionary leadership city that values talents, expertise, and well-qualified expatriates.

Launched and implemented in 2019 by the UAE Cabinet – led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, the Golden Visa is a new take on a long-term residence visa in the UAE, five years and ten years. This new system enables expats to live, work and study in the United Arab Emirates without needing a national sponsor. Furthermore, it follows 100% ownership of local businesses within the UAE.

What is the UAE Golden Visa?

The Golden visa can be granted for five years and ten years. As per the UAE government, the Golden visa can be granted to the following categories of applicants (providing they meet the immigration criteria):

• Investors
• Entrepreneurs
• Start-up Owners
• Exceptional talents and science researchers
• Outstanding students
• Frontline & humanitarian pioneers
• Engineers

Like many countries worldwide, the UAE offers different visas, and the Golden Visa is one of the most desirable by international applicants. Providing you with long-term residency, UAE’s Golden Visa is your golden opportunity to live, work or study in the country for up to a decade while enjoying the exclusive benefits.

The UAE long-term residency visa enables you to:

• Make multiple entries to the country for six months for residence issuance (at the initial phase)
• Self-sponsor yourself
• Take full ownership of your business ventures on the UAE mainland
• Stay outside the UAE for more than six months without fearing the residence visa going to be withdrawn if the country is not visited at least once within the prescribed time
• Sponsor your family members, including spouse and children, regardless of their ages. The family members are allowed to stay in the UAE until the end of their permit duration, even in the unfortunate event of the demise of the primary Golden Visa holder
• Sponsor an unlimited number of domestic helpers

Other benefits of the Golden Visa include the following:

• Security about your future
• A valid driver’s license from your country of origin provides quick access to the UAE driver’s exam
• No age limit for applicants
• The residency permit for ten years can be easily renewed

The UAE Golden Visa residency program for ten years

Foreign Investors

Those applying for a 10-year residency as Foreign Investors must have at least 10 million AED in their public investments portfolio. The amount cannot be loaned and should retain for a minimum of three years. Only 60% of this can be invested in real estate.

This investment can potentially extend to business partners if each contributes another 10 million AED.

Exceptionally talented individuals

Those who cannot invest can still apply under the specialised talent category. This includes specialised professionals such as; scientists, doctors and creative individuals in art and culture. Conditions include full accreditation by the Ministry of Culture & Youth, the Emirates Science Council, and the Ministry of Economy.

The UAE Green Residence visa program for five years

The 5-year Green Residence visa is targeted at those with exceptional talents, skilled professionals, freelancers, self-employed residents, investors and entrepreneurs.

Real Estate Investors

Open to those who have invested up to 5 million AED in a property and no less than 2 million AED in an off-plan property. The investor must ensure the property is not loaned and is retained for a minimum of 3 years.

Entrepreneurs

UAE Entrepreneurs are eligible for the 5-year residency visa if they have an existing project with a minimum capital of 500,000 AED and have the approval of an officially recognised business startup, with health insurance documents for their family.

Those who apply as entrepreneurs can receive a multi-entry visa for six months with the option of renewal for another six months.

Students

Outstanding students must have a minimum grade of 95% in public or private secondary school, whereas university students must have a GPA of at least 3.75 upon graduation to qualify.

Who can get a UAE Golden Visa?

Golden visas can be issued to investors, entrepreneurs, people with specialised talents, scientists, and outstanding students from any country in the world. The spouse and children of the Golden Visa holder also qualify for the Golden Visa. Sometimes senior Emiratis or government bodies nominate people for golden visas, and in other occurrences, people apply online. People investing 1 million to 2 million AED in property also have several choices.

Are the Golden Visa benefits specific to individual emirates?

In addition to the standard benefits of the UAE Golden Visa, there are some emirate-specific benefits the visa holder can enjoy, for instance:

Golden Visa holders in Abu Dhabi are exclusively entitled to:

• Discounts and offers on cars, property, healthcare, hospitality, health insurance and banking services. Resident’s Office is partnering up with companies across various industries to offer these incentives
• Discounts on selected properties from certain developers under the Abu Dhabi Residents Office’s commercial partnerships
• Reduced mortgage fixed-interest rates (real estate investors) and attractive rates on savings accounts (non-real estate investors) from banks, including First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
• Reduced premiums on annual health insurance plans for individuals and families, with diverse coverage and benefits both inside and outside the UAE
• Price reductions on cars and priority booking for new releases, special payment facilities, maintenance offers and licensing services
• Special offers for dining, spa treatments, gyms and stays at selected hospitality locations

Golden Visa holders in Dubai automatically become eligible to:

• Take a UAE driver’s test without needing extra lessons if they already have a driving licence from their home country
• Receive a UAE driver’s licence if their driver’s licence is issued in any one of 32 approved countries, including the US, the UK, Australia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, New Zealand, Qatar, Kuwait and Ireland

Can outstanding international students apply for the UAE Golden Visa?

Students who graduate from top universities worldwide with a GPA of 3.8 and above can obtain a Golden Visa in the UAE.

High school students who have attained an average rate of at least 95% in the high school certificate from public or private schools are also eligible.

Outstanding students are defined as high-performing graduates, both inside and outside the country, can avail of the Golden Visa in the UAE if they have the following:

• Attained a minimum grade of 95% at public and private high schools
• Graduated from universities with a distinction GPA of at least 3.75

What are the criteria for a high school student to meet to qualify for Abu Dhabi Golden Visa?

Abu Dhabi offers a 5-year Golden Visa to top-performing students with promising scientific abilities. The High School Student Visa includes visas for parents and dependent siblings. Students are eligible if they meet the below criteria:

• Achieved high grades at a high school in Abu Dhabi
• Have a recommendation from the Ministry of Education

What criteria must a university graduate meet to qualify for the Abu Dhabi Golden Visa?

Abu Dhabi provides a 10-year Golden Visa to highly-qualified university graduates if they:

• Are a graduate of an accredited university in Abu Dhabi
• Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.8

Please note that the University Graduate Visa allows the holder to sponsor parents, dependent siblings, spouses and children if they have the financial means to do so and can arrange accommodation.

Does UAE golden visa provide Emirati citizenship?

Golden visas provide long-term UAE residency, not UAE citizenship. Only individuals nominated by the Government or Royal Court officials can be granted the latter.

What are the UAE Golden Visa eligibility criteria for doctors under the Humanitarian Aid Workers category?

All doctors (between July 2021 and September 2022) licensed by the UAE health regulatory bodies can apply for the Golden Visa.

Are PhD degree holders eligible for UAE Golden Visa?

Professionals with a PhD can apply for the UAE Golden Visa according to the immigration rules.

What are the UAE Golden Visa eligibility criteria for Executive Directors?

Executive directors who hold a certified degree from the university, a minimum salary of 50,000 AED, and a minimum of 5 years of work experience can apply for the Golden Visa in the UAE.

Engineers from which field can apply for the UAE Golden Visa?

Under the Golden Visa System of the UAE, foreign engineers from a wide range of domains can apply for a 10-year visa. The category includes:

• Computer Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Software Engineering
• Electronics Engineering
• Epidemiology
• Artificial Intelligence
• Big Data
• Genetic Engineering
• Biotechnology Engineering

If you are interested in acquiring the Golden Visa residence status in the United Arab Emirates, do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your options.