UAE Government has approved the new for granting long term residence visas to foreign investors and entrepreneurs. Investors can invest in property, business partnership to receive residence visa in the UAE.
Investors in public investments through a deposit, an established company, or a business partnership of AED10m or more will be granted a renewable visa every 10 years. Investors in a property valuing AED5m or more will be granted a 5-year visa. Terms & conditions apply.
— UAEGov (@uaegov) November 24, 2018
The UAE Cabinet has approved long-term golden visa system for investors, entrepreneurs to facilitate business and create an attractive and encouraging investment environment for the growth of business for investors, entrepreneurs, talented students and researchers.  The decision of the Cabinet follows the previous decision approved earlier this year to grant investors ten-year residency visa. The decision aims to maintain the position of the UAE as an optimal business environment.
Qualifying Investments
- Property Investment: AED 5 million ($1.36 million) will receive five year residence visa
- Business Partnerships: AED 10 million ($2.7 million) will receive ten year residence visa renewed every ten years
- Entrepreneurs: AED 500,000 ($136,000) will receive five year visa
Non-real estate investments are not less than 60% of the total investment, will be granted a renewable residency visa every 10 years.
The long-term visa could also be extended to include business partners, provided that each partner contributes AED 10 million, the spouse and the children, as well as one executive director and one advisor. The decision allows investors to enter the country for a six-month period, multiple entry, to apply for the long-term visa requirements.
Entrepreneurs
The decision also includes the terms to grant long-term visa to two categories of entrepreneurs;
- Having a previous project with a minimum of 500,000 dirhams, or
- Having the approval of an accredited business incubator in the country.
The benefits of the entrepreneurial visa include entrepreneurs, partners, three executive directors, spouse and children. The entrepreneur is allowed entry into the country for six months, multi-entry visa period, with renewal for another six months.
Special Talent Visa for Ten years
Specialized talents and researchers in the fields of science and knowledge The decision also includes provisions for granting a 10-year visa for specialized talents and researchers in the fields of science and knowledge for doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors. As well as creative individuals in the field of culture and art.
The visa’s advantages include the spouse and the children.
About United Arab Emirates
UAE has the second largest economy in the GCC after Saudi Arabia with a population of 9.2 million. More than 7 million expatriates live in the country. Almost 80% of residents living in UAE are foreign expats and Emiratis constitute only 20% of population.
UAE government does not levy income tax although there is a system of corporate tax in place and value added tax was established in 2018 at 5% makes it attractive for foreign investors.
UAE has risen 10 spots in the World Bank’s annual Ease of Doing Business report and now stands in 11th place globally from 21st in 2017 according to World bank
Dubai Property Market
Dubai property market was worth AED 285 billion in 2017.
In 2017, Dubai registered 69,000 real estate transactions exceeding Dh285 billion in 2017, according to the Dubai Land Department (DLD).
In Dubai , according to the property registrations, Dubai Marina, International City and Jumeirah Lake Towers accounted for the highest number of completed sales in 2017.
According to Khaleej Times, in the year 2017
- UAE investors led the list of nationalities investing in Dubai real estate, committing Dh25.3 billion (Dh22 billion in 2016). Indian investors stood second by investing Dh15.6 billion (Dh12 billion). Saudis came in third place with investments exceeding Dh7 billion, followed by British and Pakistanis whose investments amounted to Dh6 billion and Dh5 billion respectively. Other active investors include Chinese, Jordanians, Egyptians and Canadians.
- The favoured investment destination in 2017 was the Burj Khalifa which attracted Dh7.36 billion in sales. Business Bay followed with 3,763 transactions worth Dh7.12 billion, while Dubai Marina took third place with 3,300 transactions worth nearly Dh7 billion. Hadaeq Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid came in fourth place with 1,948 transactions worth Dh5.672 billion and Al Barsha South Fourth ranked fifth through 3,138 transactions worth around Dh4 billion.
Read more about the new scheme here
