Your UAE base: property, business or nomination

UAE residency by investment: the routes side by side

Each route answers a different question: what you own, what you deposit, what your company does or what your profile is. The UAE’s Golden Visa, often searched as the Dubai Golden Visa, is the federal long-term permit, under Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 and Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022, which sets its term at 10 years for every category. Dubai’s two-year property permit and a company’s residence visas are separate permits, with their own validity and renewal rules.

Dubai residency by investment: what each Golden Visa route asks

The four investor routes lead to the same 10-year permit, but each sets its own conditions in Dubai:

• Property: the Dubai Land Department requires the property, one or more units, to be wholly owned in the applicant’s name with an electronic title deed, and the applicant to be in the UAE. A mortgage needs the bank’s no-objection letter showing the amount paid. GDRFA Dubai requires a co-owner’s share to be worth at least AED 2,000,000 and a lien on the property for the life of the permit.
• Deposit or fund: GDRFA Dubai does not permit withdrawal during the 10 years and asks for proof of housing in Dubai.
• Company: GDRFA Dubai asks for an audited report from a UAE audit firm.
• Tax: the taxes paid are shown by a letter from the Federal Tax Authority.

The property and deposit routes tie your capital to the permit: the property may not be disposed of, nor the deposit refunded, during the 10 years. The company and tax routes tie it to a business that must meet the condition again when you renew.

In Abu Dhabi, the Department of Economic Development (ADDED) applies the AED 2,000,000 property threshold to the investor’s own capital. A mortgaged property also needs a tax return form showing at least AED 250,000 in taxes settled for the two years before the application, and an off-plan buyer must show at least AED 2,000,000 paid to the developer. UAE residents apply for a nomination through the Abu Dhabi Residents Office.

The Dubai property visa: two years or the Golden Visa

A Dubai property visa can mean either of two permits, both available through the Dubai Land Department. Many guides still give AED 750,000 as the two-year threshold; the Department’s page, updated on 14 October 2026, sets no minimum for a sole owner.

For the investor, the two-year permit costs more in government fees than the 10-year package, so it matters most to an owner whose property is worth less than AED 2,000,000. The sources behind this guide do not set out its presence and renewal terms: confirm them with the Dubai Land Department. Other emirates set their own rules. The UAE Golden Visa cost guide itemises the fees, family members included.

UAE residency through a company you set up

Company formation starts with what the business will do. The licensed activity, the jurisdiction, the office and the visa quota decide the setup and how many people the company can bring into residence. Those are business costs, not a Golden Visa threshold: a company qualifies its owner through the capital, tax or entrepreneur criteria, not through its setup cost.

This guide gives no setup figure: fees vary with those choices, and none has been checked against an official schedule. Ask for the licence, premises, visa allocation and recurring administration as separate lines, apart from any property capital. A company’s residence visas follow their own validity, presence and renewal rules; the business residency page lists the programs that work this way.

Golden Visa nomination: UAE residency for professionals and entrepreneurs

Not every Golden Visa rests on capital. Beside investors, ICP lists entrepreneurs, scientists and specialists, exceptional talents, outstanding students, humanitarian pioneers and the first line of defence. Its guide sets figures for some of them:

• Entrepreneurs: a small or medium enterprise with revenue of at least AED 1,000,000, or ventures sold for at least AED 7,000,000.
• Specialised professionals: a salary of at least AED 30,000 a month.
• Humanitarian supporters: contributions of at least AED 2,000,000.

The other categories turn on evidence of the profile, so identify the category and the evidence it needs before any budget. Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022 allows a direct application on ICP’s platform or a nomination by the competent federal or local government authority; Abu Dhabi runs its Golden Visa nomination through the Abu Dhabi Residents Office. ICP describes long-term residency without the need for a sponsor and the freedom to live, work, study and invest; a residence permit is separate from any licence a regulated profession needs.

How to get UAE residency, step by step

The authority and documents change with the route; the sequence does not.

1. Choose the route by what qualifies you: a property, a deposit, a company, a tax record or a profile.
2. Prepare the documents: a valid passport, comprehensive health insurance for every applicant, proof of the investment and the route’s own papers, such as the title deed in Dubai.
3. Apply to the right authority: in Dubai, the Dubai Land Department for property, and GDRFA Dubai, through its smart services or Amer centres, for the other investor routes; in Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Residents Office for UAE residents and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) for non-residents; elsewhere, ICP.
4. Enter or change status: from abroad, a six-month Golden Residence entry visa lets you come in to complete the procedure; inside the UAE, you change status instead.
5. Take the medical test and receive the Emirates ID: adult applicants take a medical fitness test, and every resident receives an Emirates ID. On Dubai’s property route both sit inside the Dubai Land Department service; GDRFA Dubai lists an expected five days for its investor service.

In July 2025, ICP said (opens in a new tab) that Golden Visa applications are handled “exclusively through official government channels within the UAE” and that no consultancy is recognised as an authorised party. Dubai residency brings the residence route, the business structure and local support together.

Keeping UAE residency: family, time abroad and renewal

A Golden Visa holder can sponsor a spouse, children regardless of age and parents, each for a renewable 10-year permit; if the holder dies, the family may stay until their permits expire. The holder and every family member need valid health insurance throughout. For the two-year permit and company visas, confirm who can be sponsored.

The Golden Visa has no stated minimum stay: holders are not required to visit the UAE every 180 days. Other permits carry their own presence rule; the note on golden visa minimum stay shows how to put such duties in a calendar.

Renewal follows the standards and conditions of the first grant, after paying the prescribed fees and with ICP approval, so the qualifying basis must still hold when you renew. ICP grants a 180-day grace period after a Golden residence permit expires or is cancelled, for the holder and family members.

A UAE residence visa, the Golden Visa included, is not a tax residency certificate. The certificate requires a separate application to the Federal Tax Authority, which issues it to persons who are tax resident in the UAE under UAE tax legislation or a double taxation agreement, as its Tax Residency Certificate service page (opens in a new tab) sets out.

A permit alone does not settle your tax position. Wealthy Expat coordinates immigration services, while individualised legal and tax advice belongs with licensed professionals. To weigh the UAE against other countries for your household, the strategy assessment brings the route, family and budget questions together.