United Arab Emirates
UAE Golden Visa
The Golden Visa gives 10 years of renewable residence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – with no employer or sponsor, with your family, and with no personal income tax.
News · United Arab Emirates
Dubai moves property-linked Golden Visa services into a single channel
Three property-linked residency services are moving from the Dubai Land Department to the immigration directorate's system. The aim is to let customers handle their matters through one channel.
Summary
In brief
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According to a Dubai Media Office release of 11 April 2026, GDRFA Dubai (the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs – Dubai) and the Dubai Land Department signed a memorandum of understanding.
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Three services move into the GDRFA Dubai system: the Golden Residency, the Retiree Residency and the Property Residency.
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According to the release, the aim is a unified and seamless experience through a single channel.
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The release gives no start date and does not address eligibility criteria.
Background
What happened
On 11 April 2026 the Dubai Government Media Office announced that GDRFA Dubai and the Dubai Land Department had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). It was signed by Lieutenant General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of GDRFA Dubai, and Omar Hamad Bu Shehab, Director General of the Land Department.
Under the agreement, three property-linked residency services – the Golden Residency, the Retiree Residency and the Property Residency – move from the Land Department into the GDRFA Dubai system. According to the release, the aim is for customers to handle their matters through a single channel, in a unified and seamless process.
For you
What it means for you
- One channel: if you apply for residency in Dubai on the basis of a property investment, the agreement moves the process into the GDRFA Dubai system.
- Timing still open: the release gave no start date. Before filing, we always check which platform and procedure apply.
- Criteria: the announcement concerned the service channel, not the eligibility criteria.
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