GCG Structuring

private clients / residency / golden visa investor

Dubai Golden Visa for investors and entrepreneurs

01_introduction

Most investors find out how the Golden Visa works after they have already bought the asset. The route you qualify under is decided by what you own, where it is registered and how it is documented. Each route also carries conditions that continue for the whole life of the permit.

02

01
How much investment is required for a Dubai Golden Visa?

The qualifying amount is set by the government and depends on the route, not on the applicant. The thresholds below are current at September 2026; confirm the position before you apply.

  • Real estate. One property, or several combined, with a total value of no less than AED 2 million, certified by the Dubai Land Department.
  • Company shareholding. A share of company assets of no less than AED 2 million, proved by a certified report from an accredited UAE audit firm.
  • Bank deposit. A deposit of no less than AED 2 million with an accredited local bank, frozen for at least two years.
  • Tax contribution. A letter from the Federal Tax Authority confirming at least AED 250,000 paid in tax annually.
  • Entrepreneurs. A separate route, assessed on the project and a nomination rather than a capital threshold you meet on your own.

The Golden Visa changes the terms of residency, not only its length.

 

  • Ten years on the investor routes, renewable while the qualifying conditions are met.
  • Self-sponsored and held in your own name, so no employer or partner is needed and a change of job or business activity does not end it.
  • No minimum stay, and an absence of more than six months does not invalidate the permit.
  • Spouse and children are sponsored on the holder’s file, and parents can be added on the Dubai investor route.

The Golden Visa lets you apply for a resident account, but approval is never automatic.

 

  • Residency and an Emirates ID let you apply as a resident rather than a non-resident.
  • Each bank runs its own onboarding and timeline, and the decision is the bank’s.
  • Source of wealth and source of funds are examined on every file, and the activity behind the money weighs more than the visa.

The two are not alternatives. They grant different things and are usually held for different reasons.

 

  • The Golden Visa grants UAE residence, renewable while the qualifying investment is maintained, and that investment stays yours to hold and sell.
  • Caribbean citizenship by investment grants a second nationality, permanent once granted and passed to children, in exchange for a contribution that is spent.
  • A second nationality is mainly about travel and optionality, while the Golden Visa is about basing yourself, your family and your business in one place.
  • Clients who want both usually sequence them rather than choose. See our page on citizenship by investment.

The application file is short; assembling the evidence behind it is the real work.

 

  • Passport, photograph, and your current Emirates ID and residence permit if you hold them.
  • Proof of the qualifying investment for your route, as set out above; for mortgaged property, the financing bank’s no objection letter.
  • Medical fitness test and biometrics for the Emirates ID, plus health insurance.
  • Attested marriage and birth certificates where family members are included.
  • On the Dubai property route the applicant must attend in person inside the UAE.

03

How GCG handles it

Golden Visa work is run in-house by our own PRO and government liaison team. It is not referred out.

  1. Route and evidence. We establish which of the Golden Visa UAE routes your assets satisfy, and test each document against the authority’s own wording before filing.
  2. Structure. Where the route runs through a company, we check the shareholding and audited position first, and can handle the company formation itself.
  3. Filing and family. We file with the correct authority, prepare the family applications alongside the main file, and track it to issuance.
  4. Continuity. We track the conditions that must hold for the life of the permit, including the lien on qualifying property and the restriction on a qualifying deposit, as part of your wider wealth structuring.
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Check your route before you apply

Your route is decided by what you already own. A short call establishes which route applies, what evidence is missing, and what continues to bind you after the permit is issued. Where the visa forms part of a wider plan, it is set alongside HNW wealth planning, within GCG’s Residency by Investment work.

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04_faq

There is no single minimum. The qualifying threshold depends on the route, set out in full above.

Yes, on the property route. What counts is the value the Dubai Land Department certifies, not the price paid. Several properties can be combined to reach it, a share in a jointly owned property must itself reach it, and mortgaged property qualifies with the bank's no objection letter.

No. The permit does not require you to relocate or spend a set number of days here. Where you actually live is what affects your tax position, which is separate from your visa.

The Golden Visa is an immigration status, not a tax status. It does not by itself make you tax resident in the UAE, and it does not end tax residency in the country you are leaving. Both are decided by their own separate tests.

Yes. Each family member has their own document set, and their permits run with the holder’s, renewing and lapsing together.

The published service time for the Dubai investor route is 7 to 10 business days once the file is complete. Assembling the evidence usually takes longer than the processing.

The residency rests on the qualifying investment being maintained. Disposing of it removes the basis on which the visa was granted, and it will not renew. The conditions that bind each route are tracked under How GCG above.