The demand for long-term residency has soared since the UAE lowered the salary requirement for Golden Visas for skilled professionals. Since the program’s expansion in October, the Arabian Business Centre (Amer Centre – Sheikh Zayed Road) in Dubai has been issuing between 30 and 40 Golden Visas each day.
The majority of the applications the center handles are from businesspeople and professionals.
More skilled professionals can qualify for long-term residency under the expanded Golden Visa program, with the minimum monthly salary requirement dropping from 50,000 dirhams to 30,000 dirhams. Disciplines include medicine, sciences and engineering, information technology, business and administration, education, law, culture, and social sciences.
Read more: This is the number of Golden Visas issued by UAE thus far
The applicants must be classified in the first or second occupational level under the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation system and hold a current employment contract in the UAE. A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent is the required level of education.
The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) reports that between 2019 and 2022, more than 151,600 Golden Visas were issued in Dubai. Now that more categories of expatriates are eligible for the sought-after visa, this is anticipated to increase significantly.
The long-term residence visa that is issued for 10 years enables eligible ex-pats to live, work or study in the UAE while enjoying exclusive benefits.
The GDRFA also said that 15,542,384 entry and residency permits were issued and that there has been an increase of 43 percent in terms of work volume in comparison to 2020-2021. The report added that several initiatives and innovative services were launched, which led to an increasing level of happiness amongst users of GDRFA services to reach (96 percent), and their partners (100 percent).
