Investor Visa

Investor Visa Requirements UAE

What you need before you apply

Investor visa requirements UAE wide start with one thing: a licensed company you hold a share of. The visa follows the trade licence, not the other way round. This page sets out what you need in place, what you will be asked to hand over, and where the decision actually sits, which is with the immigration authority and never with a consultant.

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Do You Qualify?

Tell us what you own and where you are now. We will tell you what is missing.

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The Requirements

What the Investor Visa Requirements UAE Actually Are

Six things have to line up. Miss any one and the file stops, usually after you have already paid for the stage before it.

A Licensed Company

The visa is issued off the back of a trade licence you hold shares in. No licence, no investor visa. If you do not have one yet, that is the first job, not the visa.

Shareholding on the Licence

Your name has to appear as a shareholder or partner on the licence itself, in the form the authority recognises. A verbal arrangement with a partner is not shareholding.

An Immigration File

The company needs an establishment card opened with immigration before it can sponsor anyone, including you. This is a company step, not a personal one.

Premises the Authority Accepts

Your visa allocation follows the facility or tenancy behind the licence. What qualifies differs between free zones and the mainland, and it caps how many people you can sponsor.

Medical and Biometrics

A medical fitness test and Emirates ID biometrics, both done in person inside the UAE. These cannot be completed on your behalf from abroad.

A Clean Document Set

Passport with sufficient validity, photographs to specification, and the company documents. Rejections at this stage are almost always document formatting, not eligibility.

Compare

Investor, Employment or Long Term

People arrive asking for an investor visa when they want one of the others. The difference is who sponsors you and what the entitlement rests on.

What Matters	Investor Visa	Employment Visa	Long Term Residence
Who sponsors you	Your own company	Your employer	Held in your own right
What it rests on	Shareholding in a licence	A labour contract	Meeting a published category
Tied to a job	No	Yes	No
Ends if the company closes	Yes	Ends with the employment	Generally not
Who decides	The immigration authority	The immigration authority	The immigration authority

The Process

How the Application Runs

You will know what stage you are at and what we need from you next.

Eligibility Check

What you own, where you are resident now and whether the licence and premises behind it will actually support a visa. This is where we tell you if something is missing.

Company File Ready

Establishment card opened with immigration if the company does not have one, so it is able to sponsor before the personal application starts.

Entry Permit

The application for the entry permit is prepared and filed with your documents in the format the authority expects.

Medical and Emirates ID

Medical fitness test and Emirates ID biometrics completed in person. We book them and tell you exactly what to bring.

Stamping and Dependants

Residence stamped, then dependant applications prepared for family members if you are sponsoring them, once your own status is in place.

Paperwork

What You Will Need to Provide

Passport with sufficient remaining validity

Photographs to the authority's specification

Trade licence showing you as a shareholder

Memorandum of association or share certificate

Establishment card for the company

Tenancy or facility documentation behind the licence

Requirements differ by emirate, by visa category and by whether you are applying from inside or outside the country, and dependants need their own set including attested marriage and birth certificates. We confirm your exact list before anything is filed. The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship is the issuing authority and the place to check current rules, and the UAE government's visa and Emirates ID section sets out the categories.

Questions

Investor Visa Questions

How much do I need to invest to qualify?

There is no single number, and anyone quoting you one without knowing your category is guessing. Thresholds differ by visa category, by emirate and by whether the investment is in a company, in property or in capital, and they are set by the authority rather than by us. Tell us your situation and we will point you at the category that fits and what it currently asks for.

How long is an investor visa valid for?

Validity depends on the category you are granted under, and the categories are defined and changed by the immigration authority. We will not publish a duration here that might be out of date by the time you read it. Check the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship for the current position, or ask us about your specific case.

Can you guarantee my visa will be approved?

No, and you should be wary of anyone who says otherwise. The decision belongs to the immigration authority. What we can do is make sure your file is complete, correctly formatted and submitted under the right category, which is where most avoidable rejections come from. If we think you are unlikely to qualify, we will say so before you spend anything.

Can I sponsor my family?

Generally yes, once your own residence is in place. Sponsoring a spouse, children or parents each carry their own conditions and their own document sets, including attested marriage and birth certificates. Salary or income conditions can apply. We handle dependant applications alongside your own rather than as a separate exercise.

Do I need to be in the UAE to apply?

Part of it can begin before you arrive, but the medical fitness test and Emirates ID biometrics are done in person inside the country and cannot be delegated. Tell us your travel plans and we sequence the file so you are not making two trips.

What happens to my visa if I close the company?

An investor visa is sponsored by your company, so it does not survive the company being struck off or the licence lapsing. If you are winding down or selling, tell us early. There are orderly ways to move to another sponsor or category, and they are much harder to arrange after the licence has already gone.

Find Out Where You Stand

Tell us what you own, where you are resident and who you need to bring with you. We will tell you which category fits, what is missing from your file, and what the authority and we will each charge, in writing. What we will not do is promise you an approval that is not ours to give.

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