The Golden Visa has become the number one selling point for property developers in Dubai. But behind the promise of a ten-year residence in the Emirates, the legal reality is more nuanced than the brochures suggest.
Created in 2019 and substantially expanded in 2022, the Golden Visa is a long-term residence programme that allows certain categories of investors, professionals and talented individuals to settle in the United Arab Emirates without a sponsor and without any minimum presence requirement. It is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 and Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022. However, a Golden Visa is not a tax status. It determines neither your tax residence nor the tax regime applicable to your income.
This article reviews the conditions for obtaining the Golden Visa, its practical benefits and, above all, the limits that should not be overlooked.
I. Eligibility conditions: who can apply for the Golden Visa?
A. Investors
The Golden Visa is open to several investor profiles, with thresholds and conditions that vary according to the nature of the investment.
Real estate investment is the most common route. The investor must own one or more freehold properties with a total value of at least AED 2 million (around 500,000 euros), as registered with the Dubai Land Department (DLD). Since February 2026, it is the total value of the property that counts, not the amount of the personal contribution: a property financed by a loan is eligible provided that its DLD value reaches the threshold. The property must be held for at least three years.
In practical terms, an apartment bought for AED 2.5 million with a bank loan covering 60% of the price is eligible, because it is the value of the asset and not the capital invested that is taken into account.
The other categories of investors are as follows: investment in an Emirati company (minimum AED 500,000), a bank deposit (AED 2 million frozen for a minimum of two years), or an annual tax contribution of at least AED 250,000 certified by the Federal Tax Authority.
B. Professionals, entrepreneurs and talented individuals
The Golden Visa is not reserved for investors alone. It is also available to qualified professionals, provided they can show an employment contract in the Emirates and a minimum monthly salary of AED 30,000 (around 7,500 euros), excluding housing and transport allowances.
Entrepreneurs may apply provided they can demonstrate annual turnover of at least AED 1 million or have raised funds of at least AED 2 million.
The programme also welcomes specialist profiles: scientists and researchers (on the recommendation of the UAE Council for Scientists), doctors (with Ministry of Health approval), inventors (on the recommendation of the Ministry of Economy), creators and artists with five years’ experience and recognised works, as well as graduates with distinction.
In other words, the Golden Visa covers a broad spectrum, from real estate investors to researchers and tech entrepreneurs. The common condition is to demonstrate an economic, financial or intellectual contribution to the Emirates.
II. The practical benefits of the Golden Visa
A. A long-term residence permit, without a sponsor
The Golden Visa grants a renewable right of residence of 5 or 10 years, without the need for a local sponsor. This is a major change compared with the standard residence visa, which is tied to an employer or local partner and lapses if the contractual relationship ends.
Another significant benefit: the Golden Visa imposes no minimum presence requirement in the Emirates. A standard visa holder who leaves the country for more than six months has their visa cancelled. A Golden Visa holder can live outside the Emirates for an unlimited period while keeping their residence permit.
If the main holder dies, family members retain their right of residence until the visa expires, which provides additional security.
In summary
The table below compares the three main residence permits available in Dubai.
| Golden Visa | Green Visa | Standard visa | |
| Duration | 10 years (renewable) | 5 years (renewable) | 2-3 years |
| Sponsor required | No | No | Yes (employer) |
| Minimum presence | None | None | Every 6 months |
| Sponsoring children | No age limit | Sons up to 25 | Sons up to 18 |
| Indicative cost | AED 8,000 to 15,000 | AED 3,500 to 5,500 | AED 2,000 to 4,000 |
B. Family sponsorship
A Golden Visa holder can sponsor their spouse, their children with no age limit and their parents for the entire duration of the visa. This absence of an age limit for children is a notable benefit: the standard visa limits sponsorship of sons to age 18, the Green Visa to age 25.
The holder may also sponsor domestic staff with no limit on numbers, provided they can show sufficient income.
In practice, the Golden Visa allows an entire family to settle in the Emirates on the basis of a single investment or a single professional qualification.
III. The limits: what the Golden Visa does not give you
A. The Golden Visa is not a tax residence certificate
This is the most common and most risky confusion. The Golden Visa is a residence permit: it confers the right to enter, reside and work in the Emirates. It does not determine your tax residence.
Emirati tax residence is governed by a separate text, Cabinet Resolution No. 85 of 2022, which came into force on 1 March 2023. It requires one of the following conditions to be met: 183 days of physical presence in the Emirates over a period of 12 consecutive months; or, for holders of a valid residence permit, 90 days of presence combined with a permanent residence or a professional activity in the UAE; or demonstrating that the centre of one’s personal and financial interests is in the Emirates.
In other words, a French investor who buys an apartment for AED 2 million, obtains a Golden Visa, but continues to live and work in France is not an Emirati tax resident. He remains a French tax resident. The Golden Visa, on its own, provides no shield.
B. Interaction with French tax law
A French national holding the Golden Visa who retains their home, their main professional activity or the centre of their economic interests in France remains tax domiciled in France within the meaning of Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code. Recent case law confirms this: an Emirati residence certificate is not enough; the actual severance of ties with France must also be demonstrated.
In the event of dual residence, the France-UAE tax treaty of 19 July 1989 resolves the conflict according to a cascade of criteria: permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality[1].
The Emirati tax residence certificate, which is the document that can be relied on before foreign tax authorities, is a separate document from the Golden Visa. It must be requested from the Federal Tax Authority, and obtaining it requires actually meeting the conditions of Cabinet Resolution No. 85.
Point of caution
A Golden Visa without substance (no actual presence in the Emirates, no severance of ties with France, no transfer of the centre of one’s life) does not protect you against a tax reassessment in France. If you are considering transferring your tax residence to the Emirates, the Golden Visa is a necessary but not sufficient step. It must form part of an overall approach: actual relocation, obtaining a tax residence certificate, severing French ties. On these matters, please refer to our article “How to become a tax resident in Dubai?”.
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The Golden Visa is a powerful tool for mobility and residential stability in the Emirates. Its broad eligibility conditions and its residence and family sponsorship benefits are tangible, and its flexibility of use (no sponsor, no presence requirement) makes it an attractive scheme. However, it does not, on its own, constitute a tax strategy. Tax residence is governed by separate criteria, under both Emirati and French law, and the Golden Visa does not dispense with any of the steps required for an effective transfer of tax domicile.
Bruzzo Dubucq advises French investors and entrepreneurs on settling in the United Arab Emirates, in particular as regards structuring their assets.
