In the UAE, expatriates form nearly 88 per cent of the population. And that is not without reason. The country is built by an expatriate community from more than 200 nationalities across the world.
If you want to become a UAE resident, it will help if you check the various types of residency visas available.
UAE 10-Year Golden Visa or Long-Term Investor Visa
It is a type of investor visa with specific requirements that the applicant should fulfil. And, the 10-year Golden Visa in the UAE is regarded as a residency visa by investment as the applicant should have public investments of a certain amount in the UAE.
Requirements
You need to fulfil one of the following requirements for qualifying for the UAE Golden Visa:
- An investment in the UAE of at least AED 10M
- An owner of a company in the UAE whose capital is at least AED 10M
- Partner with a company in the UAE with a minimum share of AED 10M
- Investing in all of the above sectors with a minimum amount of AED 10M, but 60 per cent of the total investments should be in non-real estate sectors.
Guidelines
- The investor should not loan the money they invest.
- The investor should retain the investment for at least 3 years.
- The investor should have financial assets of at least AED 10M
- The investor can include partners in the investment, but each of them should invest AED 10M.
Validity
The validity of this visa is 10 years and gets renewed automatically.
UAE 5-Year Golden Visa or Property Investor Visa
It grants residency to the investor in the UAE when you buy a property in the UAE.
Requirements
An investor, to be eligible for the visa, should fulfil the following conditions:
- The total value of the property should be at least AED 5M
- The investor should not invest through a loan
- The investor should retain the property for at least 3 years.
Documents
Ensure that you should keep the following documents ready before applying for the visa:
- Passport
- Previous visa
- Personal photo (white background)
- The title deed of the property
- Good Conduct Certificate
- Bank statement
- Health insurance approved by DHA
- Utility bill
Validity
The visa is valid for 5 years with automatic renewal.
UAE Retirement Visa
Residents in the UAE who are above 55 years of age can apply for a retirement visa.
Requirements
If you wish to retire in the UAE and obtain a retirement visa, you need to fulfil one of the following requirements:
- You should invest in a real estate property worth at least AED 2M
- Savings in your bank account have to be more than AED 1M
- Your monthly income should be at least AED 20,000
- You can combine between owning a property and your savings in the UAE, amounting to AED 2 M
Documents
You should keep the following documents ready to obtain the visa:
- Passport
- Marriage certificate
- Current UAE residency visa
- Emirates ID
Apart from these, more documents can be necessary depending on case to case, such as:
- Real estate investment
- Copy of title deed
- Savings proof
- Retirement letter
- Fixed income proof
- Bank statement of 6 months
- Property investment and savings
- Copy of title deed
Validity
The visa is valid for 5 years and is renewable after expiry.
UAE Employment Visa
This visa is applicable for foreign nationals working in the UAE. The UAE Employment visa allows them to live and work in the UAE legally.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship refers to the case where the employer of the individual acts as a sponsor to obtain the visa. Employers can be a private entity operating in the mainland or free zone or a government-owned facility.
Documents
For processing the visa application, some documents are necessary from the company and the employee. And those are as follows:
For a mainland company, copies of the following documents are necessary:
- Company
- Trade License
- Company Immigration Card
- Company Labour Card
- Employee
- Passport
- Personal photo (white background)
- Education certificate
- Previous residency visa if applicable
- Previous Emirates ID if applicable
- Tourist Visa if applicable
- Health Insurance approved by DHA
For a Freezone company or government entity, the following document copies are necessary:
- Company
- Online visa application
- Trade License
- Company Immigration Card
- Office Lease Agreement
- Employee
- Passport
- Personal photo (white background)
- Copy of offer letter/appointment letter
- Education certificate
- Previous residency visa if applicable
- Previous Emirates ID if applicable
- Tourist Visa if applicable
- Health Insurance approved by DHA
Validity
The validity of the visa with a mainland company is 2 years. And the validity is 3 years with a Freezone company or government entity. You can renew both visas upon expiry.
UAE Company Investor Visa
The visa is applicable to foreigners who own a company in the UAE or hold shares in any company. It is also for expatriates looking to start up their own businesses in the country.
With the visa, the holder can live and work in the country during its duration of validity.
Documents
The following document copies from the company and investor are necessary for investing in a mainland company:
- Trade License
- Company
- Immigration Establishment Card
- Memorandum of Association (LLC)
- Local Service Agreement
- Partnership contract if available
- Partners list (LLC)
- Investor
- Passport
- Personal photo (white background)
- Bank statement if applicable
- Previous visa if applicable
- Previous Emirates ID if applicable
For investing in a Freezone company or government entity, the following document copies are necessary:
- Company
- Trade License
- Share Certificate
- Immigration Card
- Memorandum of Association
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Investor
- Passport
- Personal photo (white background)
- Bank statement if applicable
- Previous visa if applicable
- Previous Emirates ID if applicable
Validity
The investor visa is valid for 3 years and is renewable after expiry.
UAE Family Visa
An expatriate can sponsor his immediate family members with the UAE Family Visa.
Sponsorship
The visa holder can sponsor their spouse, children, and parents.
Requirements
To be eligible for the visa, you need to meet the following requirements:
- Investors should pay a refundable amount of AED 3,000 per family member for sponsoring their family.
- For employees to sponsor their families, their salary has to be at least AED 4,000.
- For a person to sponsor their parents, his monthly income should be at least AED 20,000.
Documents
The following documents are necessary for processing the application for the visa:
- Sponsor
- Passport copy
- UAE residency visa copy
- Original Emirates ID
- Labour card and contract by Ministry of Labour copy
- For employment by Freezone or governmental facility, Arabic salary certificate
- Ejari or Tawtheeq Certificate
- Utility bill
- Bank statement if applicable
- Dependants
- Passport (with at least 6 months validity)
- Passport-size photo (white background)
- Previous visa copy if applicable
- Marriage certificate (if the dependant is the spouse)
- Birth certificate for children
- Health insurance approved by DHA
Validity
The durations of Family visas are different. And that depends on the type of visa the sponsor carries. These visas can be issued from 1 to 3 years or in parallel to the sponsor’s visa duration. And the renewal depends on the case.
Remarkably, these visas are linked to the visas of their sponsors. So, If, for any reason, the sponsor’s UAE residency visa gets cancelled, then the dependents’ visas will also get cancelled.
Moreover, the 30 days grace period for the UAE family residency visa gets cancelled if the sponsor’s visa gets cancelled.
UAE Domestic Workers Visa
If expatriates want to recruit a domestic worker, they need to get a UAE Domestic Workers Visa.
Sponsorship
They can sponsor either a maid, housekeeper, cook, private driver or babysitter with the visa.
Requirements
The expatriate has to meet the following requirements to sponsor a domestic worker in the UAE:
- His salary has to be at least AED 25,000 per month
- The domestic worker cannot be a relative to the sponsoring person
- The sponsor has to be a UAE resident
- If the worker is a private driver, the sponsor must have two personal cars registered under his name in the UAE.
Documents
The following are the documents required to sponsor a domestic worker in the UAE:
- Sponsor
- Visa application
- Proof of non-relation (if the worker is of the same nationality as their sponsor)
- Passport copy
- Resident visa copy
- Passport-size photo (white background)
- Bank statement
- Labour contract copy
- Health insurance card copy
- Tenancy contract (at least 2-bedroom unit)
- Salary certificate
- Worker
- Passport copy
- Visa copy
- Passport-size photo (white background)
- Medical fitness certificate from worker’s country of origin
Validity
The validity of the visa is one year, and that can be renewed.
Conclusion
We believe that this article can help you know about the various types of residency visas in the UAE.
