At a meeting of the UAE Cabinet, changes in the field of migration policy were discussed, including visas for expats for 10 years.
The UAE Government will carry out radical changes in migration policy. Foreign employees of enterprises in the UAE will be able to obtain a visa for up to 10 years - this step is aimed at attracting high-class specialists for work.
Doctors, engineers and their families will be eligible for long-term visas. Specialists working in the field of medicine, science, research, and technical fields will also receive this privilege.
Students will be able to apply for a five-year visa as well, “especially distinguished” students will be able to stay in the country for 10 years. Students currently need to apply for a visa extension each year.
Another important change concerns the fact that foreign investors will be able to own 100 percent of a company registered in the UAE.
Currently, in each company, one of the owners must be a citizen of the UAE, whose share cannot be less than 51%. Companies whose owners are 100% foreigners can only be registered in the free economic zone.
Changes in legislation were announced the day before at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president, prime minister and ruler of Dubai.
"The UAE will continue to play the role of a global forge of outstanding talent and a place where investors from all over the world stay," said Sheikh Mohammed.
According to him, "an open environment, tolerance, infrastructure and flexible legislation are the best strategy for attracting foreign investment and top-class specialists in the UAE."
According to the government, the changes will be implemented until the end of 2018.
The meeting also discussed more flexible conditions for expatriates of retirement age. As a rule, expats invest their money in real estate or assets abroad, meanwhile, they could spend all this money in the UAE, if they had the opportunity to stay in the country for a long time. Labor resources located in the UAE on a permanent rather than short-term basis could also bring economic benefits to the country.
