United Arab EmiratesGolden Visa.
A ten-year residence visa for you and your family, with no local sponsor and no minimum time spent in the country.
Minimum property investment, about US$545,000
Visa validity, renewable while you qualify
No employer or local sponsor required
Official processing time at most (working days), for a complete application
The programme in eight lines.
Figures last reviewed October 2026. Programme rules change; we confirm the current position before you commit.
- Minimum investment
- AED 2,000,000 (property)
- What you get
- 10-year residence visa
- Sponsor needed
- None
- Time in the UAE
- No minimum
- Processing time
- 7–10 working days officially
- Family included
- Spouse, children and parents
- Citizenship
- Not available
- Capital returned
- On resale, not guaranteed
The UAE Golden Visa is the quickest residency on our list to obtain, and the easiest to overestimate. It gives you a base, ten years at a time. It does not give you a passport or a way into Europe.
A ten-year base, a short flight from India.
The Golden Visa is a renewable ten-year residence visa for investors and other qualifying people. You do not need an employer or a local sponsor, and unlike an ordinary UAE residence visa, spending more than six months abroad does not cancel it.
For Indian families it is usually a Gulf base: somewhere to house the family, hold part of your assets and run a business, without the visa paperwork recurring every two or three years.
- Live, work and run a business in the UAE
- Sponsor your spouse and children, and in some cases parents
- Sponsor domestic staff
- Spend long periods abroad without losing the visa
More than one way in.
Property is the route most investors take. It is not the only one, and some routes need no capital at all.
Freehold property
Real estate in a designated freehold area, valued at AED 2 million or more by the Dubai Land Department.
- The official valuation counts, not the price you paid
- Several freehold properties can be combined to reach the total
- A jointly owned property qualifies one spouse, who sponsors the other
- Financed and off-plan property can qualify on conditions, so confirm before you buy
Public investment
A deposit in an approved UAE investment fund, or capital in a UAE company. A ten-year visa.
Entrepreneur
An innovative project certified by an auditor and endorsed by an accredited incubator. A five-year visa.
Skilled professionals
Salary-based: AED 30,000 a month or more for qualified professionals, and AED 50,000 or more for executive directors.
Doctors, scientists, creatives
Recognised talent in priority fields, nominated by a UAE authority. No capital test.
From purchase to residence.
Quick to obtain and easy to keep. And that is where the programme ends.
Buy and value
Complete the purchase and obtain the Dubai Land Department valuation certificate for the property.
Apply and decide
The official time for a complete application. Preparing documents and valuations usually takes longer than the decision itself.
Renew
No minimum stay. The visa renews as long as you still meet the qualifying criteria.
No citizenship route
The visa does not lead to a UAE passport, and gives no Schengen rights. Renewal is the whole programme.
The visa depends on the qualifying investment. If you sell the property, you must replace it with another qualifying one, or the visa can no longer be renewed on that basis.
Requirements, and the Indian side of it.
The UAE’s requirements are straightforward. For an Indian family the planning sits on the Indian side: remitting the money correctly and documenting where it came from.
- Any nationality, 18 or over, with a clean record. Indian passport holders qualify on the same terms as anyone else.
- A lawful, documented source of funds. Every rupee has to be traceable to income, a sale or an inheritance.
- A title deed in your name for freehold property in a designated area, valued at AED 2 million or more.
- Medical insurance and a UAE medical fitness test for you and each sponsored family member, plus an Emirates ID.
- Family on the visa: spouse and children. Parents are possible with a certified dependency certificate and health insurance, and unmarried adult children sign an undertaking.
- Remittance under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme. AED 2 million is about US$545,000, above one person’s annual limit of US$250,000, so families usually spread it across family members or two financial years.
- Tax collected at source on the remittance. It is adjustable against your income tax, but it ties up cash until you file.
From first call to visa.
Route and property
Confirm the route, then due diligence on the developer, the title and the likely valuation.
Remit and buy
Funds sent under LRS with full source-of-funds documentation, then the purchase and registration.
Valuation certificate
Official valuation of the property, plus a lender’s no-objection letter if it is financed.
Apply and medical
Application filed, medical fitness test, health insurance and Emirates ID for each family member.
Visa and renewal
Visa issued for ten years. Renew while the property or investment is held.
What nobody selling this will tell you.
Every programme has drawbacks. These are the UAE’s.
The valuation decides, not the price
A property bought for AED 2 million can be valued lower by the Land Department, particularly off-plan. Check the likely valuation before you sign, not after.
It is a residence visa, nothing more
The Golden Visa gives no path to a UAE passport, no Schengen access and no tax advantage by itself. If you want a second passport, this is the wrong programme.
“Lifetime” visas for AED 100,000 are not real
The UAE’s own authority has publicly rejected consultants selling cheap lifetime Golden Visas. Applications go through official channels only.
You are tied to a property market
The visa depends on holding a qualifying property. Dubai property is cyclical, and a forced sale in a weak market also costs you the visa.
The cost is more than the price
Government fees for the main applicant run to roughly AED 10,000, family permits are extra, and a Dubai purchase carries a 4% Land Department fee plus agent and registration costs.
It does not end your Indian tax residency
Whether you remain an Indian tax resident turns on days spent in India, not on holding a UAE visa. Plan that before you move, not after.
- Population
- About 11 million
- Capital
- Abu Dhabi
- Language
- Arabic
- Currency
- UAE Dirham
- Time zone
- UTC+4
Is the UAE right for your family?
Thirty minutes, no cost, no obligation. You will get an honest view either way.