UAE residence visa is a permit that allows foreign people to live in this country for a long period of time. The visa can be valid for 2-3 or even 10 years and maybe renewed as many times as a person needs. Many international families living in the Emirates for generations, just keeping on renewing their visas regularly.
UAE permanent residency does not exist as such. Being a UAE permanent resident simply means having a visa stamp in your passport and constantly living in this country.
There are a few ways to obtain UAE residency:
• Open a business
• Get employed
• Open a freelance permit in Dubai or other Emirates
• Enrol in a college or university
• Be a dependent (it can be a child or a retired parent of a resident)
• Own property with a value over 1 Million AED
Opening a business is one of the fastest ways of getting a visa. Business setup in UAE free zones is one of the most preferred options due to 100% ownership, affordable fees, and transparent process.
In order to apply for a visa, you need to open a company under your name in one of the business registration authorities of the UAE.
There are over 40 of them and you can either search for a suitable registering body by yourself or get help from business setup consultants in Dubai.
If you are getting the visa as the business owner, the process would be the following:
1. Registration of a company
2. Getting establishment card (it’s an immigration document of your company which allows you to start visa applications)
3. Obtaining entry permit (a prerequisite of a resident visa, which is done at its initial stage)
4. Making Emirates ID application and doing medical tests
5. Stamping the visa into your passport
Normally you can stay in your home country during the company incorporation, establishment card and entry visa-issuing (provided that you visited UAE at least once in the past).
Your personal presence is required at the stage of Medical check and Emirates ID application and visa stamping. Your passport will be taken to the immigration office for the stamping and you will not be able to leave UAE until the process is completed.
Overall, visa stamping including Medicals and ID takes 5 working days.
UAE resident visa cost differs depending on the place of your business registration. If you set up a company in one of the northern Emirates Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah or Ras Al Khaimah the fees would be the lowest. You can check the prices of UAE residence visa with company setup below:
| Free zone name | Activities | Visas | Cost starting, AED |
| RAKEZ | trading, service | 1 visa included | 25,600 |
| Ajman Media City | trading, service | 1 visa included | 23,640 |
| Umm Al Quwain FTZ | trading, service | 1 visa included | 22,883 |
As for Dubai resident visa cost, it will be higher due to the increased prices of the business registration and other extra expenses. One of them is obligatory health insurance, which must be done prior to the visa stamping.
Here you can see the breakdowns of Dubai resident visa for business owners:
| Free zone name | Activities | Visas | Cost starting, AED |
| Dubai South | trading, service | 1 visa included | 27,658 |
