UAE to introduce green visa plans to expand scope of golden visa

MUMBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) tops the list of hosting the largest number of immigrants from India, stated to be 3.5 million, according to a United Nations (2020) report. With the UAE set to roll out green visas and expand the eligibility for golden visas, this number may grow by leaps and bounds. Technology workers from India, will stand to benefit as UAE plans to focus on hiring coders and attract technology companies.
In a press conference on Sunday, under the banner of ‘Projects of the 50’ which is a series of development and economic projects, aimed at making UAE an ideal destination for highly skilled individuals and investors, a restructuring of the entry and residency system was announced.
A Green Visa will be rolled out, which expands the self-residency status (in other words employer sponsorship is not required) to investors, entrepreneurs, highly skilled individuals, top students and graduates. Green visa holders can sponsor their parents and children who are up to the age of 25, states a press release issued by the Media office of the UAE government.
Another stream of visa that was announced was the federal freelancers visafor self-employed workers based in the UAE and overseas in specialised fields such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and digital currencies.
The release adds that the existing Golden Visa eligibility will be expanded to include managers, CEOs, specialists in science, engineering, health, education, business management and technology. These were broad based announcements and further details may follow.
The Golden Visa (which covers the spouse, children, parents of the visa holder), which was introduced in 2019, allows foreigners to live, work and study in the UAE without the need of a national sponsor and with 100 percent ownership of their business. The visa is for a five or ten year tenure and investment requirements are set down. For instance a ten year visa requires a minimum investment of

Emirati Dirham (

AED) 10 million
Of particular interest to Indians will be the emphasis on developing the UAE in the technology sector. A program ‘100 coders every day’ seeks to attract 3,000 coders every month to the country’s workforce. The target is to increase the number of coders from 64,000 to 100,000 in twelve months and to facilitate the setting up of programming companies in the UAE through a set of incentives and benefits. UAE plans to hold a 'PyCon Summit' -the largest programming summit to be held in the Middle East in the second half of 2022.
Another regulatory change that was announced is that on loss of a job, the visa holder and dependents can stay in the UAE for up to 6 months, instead of just 30 days. Business trip permits also stand increased from three months to six months.

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