UAE Golden Visa eligibility: who qualifies under each category

The Golden Visa is category-based. You do not accumulate points; you show that you belong to a category and hold the evidence the ICP guide lists for it. In practice that means two questions for every applicant: do you meet the threshold, if the category has one, and can you obtain the letter from the body that vouches for that category? The second question is the one people underestimate. For most talent categories the threshold is the letter.

Eligibility is checked officially through the ICP smart services eligibility tool for Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah files, and through GDRFA Dubai for Dubai files. The tool's answer for your own case outranks anything on this page.

The table separates the number you must meet from the body that must confirm it. Where the guide gives no number, the threshold column says so.

The guide gives two headline conditions for public investors: "a minimum capital investment of AED 2 million" or "ownership of real estate or a stake in an establishment that pays annual taxes of no less than AED 250,000". The document list then makes the AED 2 million route concrete in two forms, a fund deposit or company capital shown in the Memorandum of Association, and the tax route concrete as a letter from the Federal Tax Authority. Real-estate investors sit in a separate five-year category with the AED 2 million property letter. The investor page and the property investor page cover each in detail.

Entrepreneurs must show an innovative, technology-based or future-oriented project. Two letters carry the application: an auditor's letter that the project is worth at least AED 500,000, and a letter from an accredited business incubator or the relevant authority in the emirate confirming the innovative nature of the project.

Executive directors are the one professional group with a numeric salary test, AED 50,000, and it comes with three more items: a certified university degree, a certificate showing at least five years' experience, and an employment contract. Specialists in priority scientific and engineering fields need a certified PhD or degree and an employment contract; the guide does not name the priority fields, though an older ICP page lists computer engineering, electronics, programming, electricity, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, big data and epidemiology. Both groups are described on the skilled professionals page.

For these groups the guide names no threshold. Eligibility rests on a letter: a Ministry of Health accreditation for doctors; a recommendation from the Emirates Council of Scientists or an award for scientific excellence for scientists; a Ministry of Economy recommendation for inventors; an accreditation letter from the Ministry of Culture and Youth or a Department of Culture and Arts for creatives; and a recommendation from the General Sports Authority or one of the sports councils for athletes. The Ministry of Culture runs an online recommendation service for creatives at mcy.gov.ae. See doctors and scientists and talent and creatives.

Secondary-school students need a Ministry of Education recommendation and a score of 95% or more, for a five-year residency. University students and recent graduates need a GPA of 3.8 or more from an accredited university, a university recommendation or graduation certificate, and no more than two years since graduation, for ten years. The guide also asks students for proof of the ability to support and house family members. Humanitarian pioneers and frontline heroes need certificates of appreciation plus proof of five years' involvement with humanitarian organisations, 500 volunteer hours, or financial support of AED 2 million or more. The outstanding students page covers the academic route.

Use the eligibility checker to see which category's evidence you already hold, then read requirements and documents before you approach the gatekeeping body for your letter.