UAE announces visa for retirees

By Uglobal Staff

The UAE has announced that retirees from all over the world can get long term residency in the oil-and-gas rich gulf nation.

"Today, we have approved the conditions for granting residency to a retired foreigner...we welcome everyone to our country," said Sheikh Mohammed al-Makhtoum, the ruler of Dubai and the UAE Vice President, in a tweet.

The criteria includes owning real estate in the country that must be worth at least a million dirhams ($270,000); a foreign retiree who can show a bank deposit of the same amount, or a yearly income of at least 180,000 dirhams ($49,000) would also be eligible for the new residency program.

Previously, the gulf state only approved retirees who were already residents in the country the right to gain residency upon retirement. In 2018, resident retirees were for the first time allowed to get a 5-year long resident visa following the end of their employment.  

The UAE also announced earlier this week that the country will start issuing 5-year long multiple entry visas to all foreigners who work at major multinational firms.

"The new Five-Year Multi-Entry Visa is the latest in a series of initiatives launched by Dubai to create new opportunities for professionals and talented individuals across the world to grow and thrive," the official news agency, WAM, quoted Sheikh Mohammad as saying on Nov. 16. A website for multinational companies in Dubai who want to apply for these long-term visas for their employees was also activated (www.dubaimultiyear.com).

GULF STATES GIVING FOREIGNERS MORE OPTIONS

The UAE like several other gulf states in the region has recently taken several steps to make the country an even more attractive destination for wealthy foreigners, who in the past were almost never offered a path towards citizenship, or even the option to run their own businesses without first including a native partner.

The UAE amended its citizenship law in January this year to allow nominated foreigners to get the Emirati passport and citizenship. It also launched the Green Visa program for foreigners in September, allowing global talent and foreign investors to stay in the country on a self-sponsored visa. It also expanded its golden visa long term residency program to include doctors, programmers etc.

Earlier in November, Saudi Arabia created a huge buzz in the region’s investment immigration space when it announced that it too would be granting citizenship to nominated foreigners who are highly skilled and talented.

Another gulf state Oman launched its Investment Residency Program in June, offering 10-year long stays to foreign investors.

Since 2020, Qatar too has been offering long term residencies to foreigners who invest at least $200,000 in the country.

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