Exodus 2.24 - UAE Golden Visa Application Guide
As one of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has unique geographical advantages:
- It is located between Asia and Europe and serves as an important transportation hub.
- Based on the GCC agreement, it offers extremely low taxes, no personal income tax, a 5% sales tax, and only recently introduced a corporate income tax.
- Compared to other Muslim countries, it is the most open and has aligned itself with international standards in various aspects.
Although the UAE does not currently support naturalization, it is still a very good immigration stepping stone.
In recent years, the UAE has introduced long-term residence visas for high-level talent: the golden visa and the green visa. The former has higher requirements and is valid for ten years, while the latter has lower requirements and is valid for five years. Both are very attractive options.
Introduction to the Golden Visa
Compared to other long-term residence visas in the UAE, the golden visa has the following advantages:
- A multiple-entry visa for six months to facilitate the issuance of a residence permit
- A long-term, renewable residence visa valid for 5 or 10 years
- No need for sponsorship
- Being able to stay outside the UAE for more than six months and still maintain the validity of the residence visa
- Ability to sponsor family members (including spouses and children)
- Ability to sponsor an unlimited number of domestic workers
- If the primary holder of the golden visa passes away, family members can stay in the UAE until their permits expire.
According to official information, the golden visa has several main categories, such as investment-based golden visa, student golden visa, etc. This article will focus on the golden visa for outstanding specialized talents. This category includes the following occupation options:
- doctors
- scientists
- creative people of culture and art
- inventors
- executives
- specialists in scientific fields
- athletes
- doctoral degree holders
- specialists in the fields of engineering and science.
The last subclass includes the following fields:
- epidemiology and virology
- artificial intelligence
- big data
- computer engineering
- electronics engineering
- software engineering
- electrical engineering
- genetics and biotechnology engineering
The golden visa for specialized talents actually responds to the UAE government's 2030 plan to attract more talents to the UAE.
Golden Visa Application
Due to the lack of clarity in the official system and documents, the application process is not easy. This article will provide a detailed guide to applying for a golden visa in the UAE to help you navigate the process.
The UAE has seven emirates in total. Although it is a united country, each emirate has a certain degree of autonomy, so some regulations may vary, including visa application processes. We will mainly introduce the application process for specialized talents golden visa in Abu Dhabi.
Specifically, the golden visa application process consists of three steps:
- Nomination application
- Visa application
- Approval and issuance
The difference between each emirate mainly lies in the first step of the nomination application, as this step is divided by emirate. Dubai has its own steps, while Abu Dhabi has its own. The following two steps are at the federal government level, so they are uniform across the UAE.
