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United Arab Emirates.

How United Arab Emirates sells citizenship and residence for investors: 4 programmes, 2 of them open today. Every number and rule below links to the document it comes from.

21
numbers
73
prices and rules
16
events
25
documents and articles
Citizenship·Open·since 2021

Citizenship by nomination

Sells citizenship, and with it a passport.

Official name: UAE citizenship by nomination for investors and talents (amended Executive Regulation of Federal Law No. 17 of 1972 on Nationality and Passports)

Lowest price for one person: not determined

No price: citizenship is by nomination only, and nobody can apply or buy it (programme notes).

Notes from the research

Not a citizenship-by-investment programme with a price: candidates (investors who own UAE property, doctors, scientists, inventors, artists, and their families) cannot apply; they are nominated by Rulers' and Crown Princes' courts, executive councils or the Cabinet. Dual nationality allowed; citizenship can be withdrawn if conditions are breached. No numbers of grants have been published. Announced by WAM on 30 Jan 2021; the amended regulation itself was not found.

Prices and rules

Ways in that apply today (minimum amounts)

What is measured

No published numbers found for this programme. That is itself worth knowing: see the notes and the documents below.

Residence·Open·since 2019

Golden visa

Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later.

Official name: UAE Golden Visa (الإقامة الذهبية - golden residence; long-term residence for investors, entrepreneurs and talents)

Lowest price for one person: AED 2 million

Property worth at least AED 2 million (10-year golden residence, Res. 65/2022, in force 3 Oct 2022; Dubai and Abu Dhabi pages agree). The same AED 2 million applies to a bank deposit or a company share (t-9712802f47, t-accf082b73). Mortgaged or off-plan property counts if AED 2 million has been paid. Government fees excluded (about AED 9,885 in Dubai).

Notes from the research

Long-term residence without a sponsor. Created by Cabinet Resolution 56/2018 (in force 3 Feb 2019; permits issued from 21 May 2019): investors AED 10 million (10 years) or AED 5 million in property (5 years). Replaced by Cabinet Resolution 8/2021 (text not found), then by the annex to Cabinet Resolution 65/2022 (in force 3 Oct 2022): 10-year permits, AED 2 million in property, bank deposit or company share, or AED 250,000 a year in taxes. Issued by ICP federally and by GDRFA in Dubai. Gives no path to citizenship: there is no residence period that leads to naturalisation; citizenship is only by nomination (see are-citizenship-nomination). Official counts are press figures covering all golden-visa categories, mostly Dubai only; no investor-only series is published.

Existing investments of people identified as eligible
050bn100bn150bn20192020

Prices and rules

Ways in that apply today (minimum amounts)
Fees today

What is measured

  • Long-term ("golden") residence permits issued, all categories12
  • Existing investments of people identified as eligible3
  • People identified as eligible for an investor residence scheme3
  • Number of nationalities among applicants1
  • Investment by programme investors1
  • Golden visas issued1
Residence·Status unclear·since 2022

UAE green residence for investors and partners (الإقامة الخضراء للمستثمر أو الشريك; Cabinet Resolution 65/2022 art. 41)

Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later.

Notes from the research

Five-year residence permit, renewable, without a sponsor or employer, for a foreigner who comes to the UAE as an investor or partner in a commercial project (Cabinet Resolution 65/2022, the executive regulation of Federal Decree-Law 29/2021, arts. 33(2), 38(2), 39(2) and 41; issued 12 Jul 2022, in force 3 Oct 2022). Conditions: the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) approves the investment under an investor classification system set by its chairman; the investment or partnership must reach the ratios set by a decision of the chairman (capital held in several licences is added up); and the local authority approves and licenses the activity. The regulation prints no amount and the chairman's decision is not stored, so no price is recorded. Holders may sponsor first-degree relatives, and their parents may be included. The government news agency WAM (18 Apr 2022) says it replaces an earlier investor residence valid for 2 years only; that earlier permit's start and terms are not in a stored document. launched is the in-force date of Res. 65/2022. Current status not confirmed: the stored consolidated text (date of consolidation not shown) still contains art. 41. No counts of green residence permits for investors were found.

Prices and rules

Ways in that apply today (minimum amounts)

What is measured

No published numbers found for this programme. That is itself worth knowing: see the notes and the documents below.

Residence·Status unclear·since 2022

UAE residence for retired foreigners with property or deposit (تصريح إقامة الأجنبي المتقاعد; Cabinet Resolution 65/2022 arts. 51-52)

Sells the right to live in the country (a “golden visa”), sometimes leading to citizenship later.

Notes from the research

Five-year renewable residence without a sponsor for a retired foreigner who worked at least 15 years before retiring (in or outside the UAE) or is at least 55, and who owns UAE property worth at least AED 1,000,000 (purchase or market value, as valued by the emirate's competent authority; mortgaged property counts if at least AED 1,000,000 of the mortgage has been paid off) or holds a deposit of at least AED 1,000,000, moved to a UAE financial institution within 60 days of the permit unless invested in the UAE (Cabinet Resolution 65/2022 arts. 34(3), 46, 51-52; in force 3 Oct 2022). The same article also accepts a fixed annual income of at least AED 240,000 instead of property or deposit; that option rests on income and is recorded only as one of this permit's rules (METHODOLOGY decision 15). No stored document shows whether a retiree permit existed before this regulation, so launched (the regulation's in-force date) may be later than the first retiree permit. Out of scope and not recorded: the separate residence for property owners on a monthly income of AED 10,000 with no property minimum (art. 53; decision 15). Current status not confirmed beyond the stored consolidated text. No counts found.

Prices and rules

Ways in that apply today (minimum amounts)

What is measured

No published numbers found for this programme. That is itself worth knowing: see the notes and the documents below.

Explore

All the numbers we have for United Arab Emirates

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Timeline

What happened, and when

Sources

The 25 documents behind this page

The stories behind the numbers

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