UAE Relaxes Residency Requirements, Launches ‘Green Visa

The UAE announced a new visa Sunday allowing foreigners to work
in the country without being sponsored by an employer, loosening
residency requirements in an attempt to boost economic growth.

Foreigners in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates are generally
only given limited visas tied to their employment, and long-term
residency is difficult to obtain.

But those holding the new “green visa” will be able to work
without company sponsorship, and can sponsor their parents and
children up to 25 years old, officials said.

“It targets highly skilled individuals, investors,
businesspeople, entrepreneurs, as well exceptional students and
postgraduates,” said Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani
al-Zeyoudi.

Resource-rich Gulf countries such as the UAE are increasingly
seeking to diversify their economies and reduce reliance on
oil.

The coronavirus pandemic has also impacted tourism and
businesses in the UAE, whose economy was already slumping in recent
years due to low oil prices.

In 2019, the UAE launched the 10-year “Golden visa” to attract
wealthy individuals and highly skilled workers, the first such
scheme in the Gulf.

Similar programmes have since been launched in other
resource-rich Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Riyadh said in June 2019 that it will offer permanent residency
for 800,000 riyals ($213,000) and a one-year renewable residency
costing 100,000 riyals, allowing expats to do business and buy
property without a Saudi sponsor.

Doha also flung open its property market to foreigners, with a
scheme giving those buying homes or stores the right to longer-term
or permanent residency permits.

Foreigners account for 90 percent of the 10 million population
in the UAE, the Arab world’s second-largest economy after
neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

AFP

The UAE announced a new visa Sunday allowing foreigners to work
in the country without being sponsored by an employer, loosening
residency requirements in an attempt to boost economic growth.

Foreigners in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates are generally
only given limited visas tied to their employment, and long-term
residency is difficult to obtain.

But those holding the new “green visa” will be able to work
without company sponsorship, and can sponsor their parents and
children up to 25 years old, officials said.

“It targets highly skilled individuals, investors,
businesspeople, entrepreneurs, as well exceptional students and
postgraduates,” said Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani
al-Zeyoudi.

Resource-rich Gulf countries such as the UAE are increasingly
seeking to diversify their economies and reduce reliance on
oil.

The coronavirus pandemic has also impacted tourism and
businesses in the UAE, whose economy was already slumping in recent
years due to low oil prices.

In 2019, the UAE launched the 10-year “Golden visa” to attract
wealthy individuals and highly skilled workers, the first such
scheme in the Gulf.

Similar programmes have since been launched in other
resource-rich Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Riyadh said in June 2019 that it will offer permanent residency
for 800,000 riyals ($213,000) and a one-year renewable residency
costing 100,000 riyals, allowing expats to do business and buy
property without a Saudi sponsor.

Doha also flung open its property market to foreigners, with a
scheme giving those buying homes or stores the right to longer-term
or permanent residency permits.

Foreigners account for 90 percent of the 10 million population
in the UAE, the Arab world’s second-largest economy after
neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

AFP