DUBAI – Authorities have confirmed that Dubai issued nearly 80,000 Golden Visas in 2022 to skilled professionals, entrepreneurs and investors, in what appears to endorse the popularity of the visa type offered by the Emirate.
The visas issued last year were 69 percent more than the previous year as the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai issued 32,467 more long-term residency visas. The number of visas issued in 2021 stands at 47,150.
The Golden Visa scheme – launched in 2019 – was recently expanded to include more investor and professional categories. Currently, property investors, professionals, scientists, outstanding students and entrepreneurs can apply for a long-term visa.
Experts are now branding the long-term residency as a game changer for the UAE economy as it is destined to attract long-term residents, high-net-worth individuals and A-listers from across the world.
As per official figures revealed in an annual report issued in November 2022, over 151,600 Golden visas were issued in Dubai between 2019 and 2022.
The Golden visa is in demand ever since the minimum monthly salary requirement was reduced from Dh50,000 to Dh30,000.
What is UAE Golden Visa
The UAE’s ‘Golden visa’ is a long-term residence visa which allows foreign talents to live, work or study in the UAE while enjoying exclusive benefits which include:
- an entry visa for six months with multiple entries to proceed with residence issuance
- a long-term, renewable residence visa valid for 5 or 10 years
- the privilege of not needing a sponsor
- the ability to stay outside the UAE for more than the usual period of six months in order to keep their residence visa valid
- the ability to sponsor their family members, including spouses and children regardless of their ages
- the ability to sponsor unlimited number of domestic helpers
- the permit for family members to stay in the UAE until the end of their permit duration, if the primary holder of the Golden visa passes away.
Many global stars have already taken the Golden Visa. These include Christiano Ronaldo, Giorgio Armani, Pakistani actors Sarah Khan and Falak Shabir, Iqra Aziz Hussain and her husband Yasir Hussain, Fakhr e Alam and Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi.
Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Suniel Shetty from Bollywood have also received UAE Golden Visa besides Sithara Krishnakumar, musician Stephen Devassy and actor Sudheer Karamana.
