Tim Elliott
Welcome to Lawgical, the UAE’s first legal podcast. My name’s Tim Elliott. Lawgical comes to you from the Dubai-based legal firm HPL Yamalova & Plewka. And as always, here is the Managing Partner, Ludmila Yamalova. Good to see you.
Ludmila Yamalova
Good to be here, Tim.
Tim Elliott
So, you’re thinking about moving to the UAE. And if you are, this is probably the podcast for you. Now, Ludmila, you and I have been here a number of years. I’m trying to remember what was on my mind when I first decided to come and live here. I had a job to come to, remember that. I’m racking my brain trying to think here, actually.
But I stayed with a friend when I first arrived, and I can remember thinking—not too anxiously—about getting a place to live, buying furniture, and setting up a new home rather than worrying about settling in. It was all new—a new adventure, but that was a different time, and it was pre-marriage, pre-kids, and pre-all that grown-up responsibility that I think I’ve got now but haven’t quite come to terms with. What was it like for you?
Ludmila Yamalova
I think probably similar. And unlike you, who came here for a job, perhaps you had a little more definition to your purpose being here at the time. For me, it was supposed to be a temporary outpost, so to speak—a temporary posting. And I came here just more for an adventure, and I just thought, I’ll stay here. This was 2008. The UAE was booming. This is pre-financial crisis. So it was very exciting. There was a lot of buzzing in the air and kind of in the region.
And I just wanted to travel. And this was a very convenient place to be in to be able to travel. So I was, and I still have, a job in the US. So I did not really need to have a job or to have to find one or adapt to working for one here, nor did I need to worry about getting visas to be able to travel because I have a US passport. So my life and even my approach to the UAE was even simpler.
I just wanted a place to live, a comfortable place to live. And I wasn’t really thinking beyond that, let alone about residence visas and having to be here for more months than what my stamp in the passport allowed me upon entrance into the UAE the first time.
So that was basically my approach, and famous last words that apply to so many of us here when we come thinking we’ll stay here for a few months or maybe a year or so and then head back home. Fast forward with 14 years to me now. I’m still here.
Obviously, since then, I’ve learned a lot more about what is required to make the UAE your home in the way that not only are you compliant with the laws but also that you can comfortably and safely live and enjoy this country.
Tim Elliott
Well, let’s get into this then from a legal perspective, the details, starting with, I suppose, immigration matters—visas, how to apply, what they cost. This is as good a place as any to start, isn’t it?
Ludmila Yamalova
Indeed. So, perhaps there are two categories of people whose settling in the UAE would be a little different based on which country they come from. There are those of us who can come into the UAE without having to obtain a visa prior to arriving, though even that is changing a lot because immigration laws are changing in the UAE, and it’s becoming a lot more open and flexible in terms of opening up to other countries who do not require pre-approval or a visa that would have had to be applied for before arrival.
So those categories of people can come here just with their passports and then get a stamp on the border and then live here for, depending on which country, either—in the past—it was 90 days, by the way, so it’s three months, and then it went down to 30 days. Now, again, there are different rules that apply for different nationalities.
But basically, there’s that category of people. There are those who actually need to have an actual physical visa stamped before they’re able to enter the UAE. So for those who come here on a visa on arrival, so to speak, this immigration issue is a lot simpler to deal with because they come here as tourists and then they can take their time to look for another job and then ultimately, depending on what they come here for, keep staying here and then leave, as they call them, border runs.
On these border runs every 30 days, 90 days, depending, they would leave, check, leave the country for a day, and come back. So that, for example, option applies for those who have this visa on arrival option.
But those who actually require a stamp in their passport—this visa on arrival will not work, and therefore they really need to make sure that they have a visa or residence visa in place or something to plan for one soon after they arrive.
So, you can come here, I guess, on one of those tourist visas, visiting visas, or you can also come here, as you said, for a job already and the job would have at least potentially theoretically applied for you for an entry permit before you arrived. But one way or the other is, once you’ve passed your first holiday stay here and you ultimately have to live in the UAE long-term, you need what’s called the UAE residence visa.
Ludmila Yamalova
So, the UAE residence visa ultimately is, again, I hesitate to summarize it in simple terms because just recently, those laws have changed as well. In the past, you would have gotten either a two-year visa or a three-year visa. Now, there are 10-year visas as well and five-year visas. But basically, one way or the other, it’s always a residence visa.
The residence visa basically gives you all the rights and benefits of a UAE resident, which means you can have a bank account, you can rent property, you can have a car, rent a car, buy a car, and overall stay in the country without any limitations in terms of the number of days being in the country or even, to an extent, how long you can be outside of the country before you lose your residence visa. So that’s what’s called a residence visa.
Now, what gives you the ability to apply for one? There are different options. The most natural one is employment. So if you have a job here, a company will apply for employment, and in the back of that, you will receive a residence visa. By the way, this is an interesting summary, I guess, or an interesting perspective of residence visas in the UAE. We don’t have employment visas versus non-employment visas because I know that is the case in a lot of other countries.
So you would get an employment visa versus a non-employment visa. No, we don’t have that here. We just have a UAE residence visa. That’s it. And with this residence visa, basically, at a high level, everybody can work.
So if you have employment here, a company would apply for your residence visa, and then you will have what’s called a residence visa under the sponsorship of your company. So that’s one option.
The other option would be if you, let’s say, set up your own company. So you are the shareholder of the company. In that case, you can have what’s called an investor visa, for example, or a business owner visa.
So that’s where you have a residence visa, for all intents and purposes, that looks just like the other one, just like the employment visa. But in this case, the sponsor, for example, would be your own company.
Then there is what’s called a dependent visa. So again, a residence visa—it looks like a residence visa, like a regular residence visa—but it is issued by your sponsor or the person under whose visa you’re applying, let’s say your spouse or your parents.
So if, let’s say, I have my residence visa, under this residence visa, I can apply for my parents, my children, and my spouse to also be residents. So again, this is a residence visa, but it is one that’s done or applied through your relationship to family.
Then there is the real estate investor visa. That is a fairly recent development, talking about three or four years ago in terms of at least the format in which it exists today. If you own real estate in particular—in the past, it applied specifically in Dubai. Now it’s sort of UAE-wide—but if you own property, depending on where you are, generally, if you have a property worth about a million dirhams, which is about $300,000, you can qualify to have a residence visa on the basis of your real estate investment.
So Dubai recently lowered that to 700,000 dirhams, which is about $200,000. But in any event, that’s another type of residence visa. Once again, it looks the same—it’s just a residence visa. But the sponsor there is yourself, and you’re listed as an investor.
Now, the most recent visas that were introduced are the 10-year visas—or five-year visas, for that matter—and that’s for different categories of professionals that are, in particular, of value to the UAE. For example, if you are in a certain profession, let’s say a doctor, or if you own a business here, instead of being sponsored through that particular business, you’re actually self-sponsoring yourself.
It even says on the visa, “self-sponsorship,” and it’s for 10 years. So this is the most recent visa, and it’s just become available in the last two years.
These kinds of visas are called Golden Visas. They, along with the real estate investment visas, have a few added benefits. For example, if you have an investor visa or a real estate investor visa, you can be outside of the country for more than six months and still have the visa be valid. Whereas, if it’s just an employment visa, and you leave the country for more than six months, that visa will automatically get canceled.
With real estate investment visas and Golden Visas, that requirement does not apply. So, you can be outside the country as long as you want. Furthermore, with the Golden Visa, there are additional benefits. For example, even if your spouse is the one who qualified for the Golden Visa, the entire family would also qualify. And, God forbid, if something were to happen to that spouse and they passed away, the family would still have the visa.
There are also student visas, which are another type of residence visa, but they’re issued to students attending universities here. There are now even visas for divorcees or widows. Let’s say the main sponsor has passed away or you’ve divorced your sponsor—you can still apply for a residence visa based on your previous relationship to the sponsor.
So, there are many different types of residence visas, but ultimately, they all look the same. They’re all residence visas supported by an Emirates ID, which is sort of like a social security card but much more advanced. The Emirates ID allows access to all government services and essentially makes you a full-fledged member of UAE society.
If you plan to move to the UAE, you will ultimately need to have a residence visa. There are some temporary visas available, such as the new job seeker visa. This will be introduced in September 2022 and will allow individuals to stay in the country temporarily while searching for a job.
However, if you want to live in the UAE long-term, you’ll need a residence visa. Whether it’s through employment, real estate investment, family sponsorship, or other means, you’ll need to secure one.
Tim Elliott
Correct me if I’m wrong, but to have a residence visa, health insurance is a prerequisite, isn’t it?
Ludmila Yamalova
Yes, particularly in Dubai. It’s not mandatory in all the Emirates, but Dubai has introduced a mechanism where you need to show proof of health insurance to apply for a residence visa. This ensures that residents have basic health coverage, not only for their individual benefit but for society at large.
Without health insurance, you’re not only vulnerable as an individual, but you also place additional strain on the healthcare system. So, in Dubai, health insurance is linked to the residence visa. Other Emirates are starting to adopt similar requirements.
Tim Elliott
What about if you’re married or thinking of getting married? What are the legal aspects you need to consider?
Ludmila Yamalova
If you’re already married and planning to move to the UAE, you’ll need your marriage certificate. This certificate must be legalized or apostilled. Legalization involves getting it stamped by the UAE Embassy or Ministry in your home country and then by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
You’ll need a legalized marriage certificate to sponsor your spouse and children for residence visas. For example, if a husband gets a job in the UAE, he’ll need his marriage certificate to sponsor his wife and birth certificates to sponsor his children.
If you’re planning to get married in the UAE, there are several options available, depending on your nationality and religion. Muslims must marry through local courts, while other faiths can marry through churches, synagogues, or temples. Civil marriages are also now possible through a new court in Abu Dhabi.
Additionally, many expats choose to marry abroad in places like Sri Lanka or Seychelles and then have their marriage certificate legalized for use in the UAE.
Tim Elliott
Assuming everything goes smoothly, you’ve moved to the UAE and set up a home. What about growing your wealth—investments, for example? What do you need to know?
Ludmila Yamalova
Once you have your residence visa, you’ll need a place to live. You can either rent or buy property. You don’t need a residence visa to buy property in the UAE. Foreigners can own property in designated freehold areas across most Emirates.
If you choose to rent, you can start with short-term rentals like Airbnb while exploring different neighborhoods. When you’re ready to commit, you’ll need a minimum one-year lease to register with the relevant authorities, such as Ejari in Dubai.
If you’re buying property, ensure you understand whether the area is freehold or restricted to Emiratis and GCC nationals. Each Emirate has its own rules, so due diligence is essential.
In terms of broader investments, it’s important to understand the UAE’s legal framework and ensure compliance. If you’re buying real estate, setting up a business, or trading in stocks, familiarize yourself with the relevant regulations.
