Investor and partner visa in the UAE

The 2-year investor or partner visa is the residence visa your own UAE company issues to you as its owner. It costs roughly AED 5,500 on top of the company itself, takes about 2–3 weeks with documents in order, and can be renewed every two years while the trade licence stays valid. Unlike the golden visa, it has no personal wealth requirement: owning the company is what qualifies you. The steps below are the ones we follow when we file it.

How the investor visa works

Your company sponsors you as its owner or partner. The order is set: the company first obtains its establishment card (immigration file) from the relevant authority; you then apply for an entry permit, complete a change of status if you are already in the UAE, take the medical fitness test, enrol for the Emirates ID, and the residence visa is issued.

With documents ready (passport, company licence, proof of shareholding, photos), the process takes 2–3 weeks and costs about AED 5,500 all-in, on top of the company formation cost. Delays usually come from the documents that feed the file, so we check the documents before anything is submitted.

The visa is valid for two years and can be renewed on the same basis if the company’s trade licence is valid at that time; the licence itself renews every year. There is no interview, no language test and no minimum bank balance for the visa itself. You qualify by owning a UAE company with a valid licence.

Visa quotas and how zone choice affects them

Every company has a visa quota, and it is largely set when you choose the jurisdiction and the package. In a free zone, the quota depends on the zone, the package and the office space; a flexi‑desk usually carries fewer visas than a leased office. Meydan, for example, allows up to six visa allocations per licence (AED 1,850 each), while the RAKEZ Lite package (AED 12,000) includes one visa and its All-Inclusive package (AED 14,000) one visa plus up to three more. On the mainland, the quota follows the leased office area under the emirate’s rules, so ask for the ratio in writing before you sign a lease. The Free Zone Index compares zones side by side.

This matters most for teams of several founders. If three partners each need residency, check the quota before signing up to a package that includes fewer visas. It is easy to fix at the selection stage and harder once the licence has been issued.

The partner designation, as opposed to investor, can require a minimum shareholding that varies by emirate and free zone. We check this with the specific authority before filing.

Investor visa costs

The figure of about AED 5,500 is an estimate for the visa only: entry permit, change of status, medical test, Emirates ID and visa issue for one person. It does not include the establishment card (a company-level cost, paid once per file) or the licence and office lease that create the sponsoring company. Read it as the cost per founder, on top of a company that already exists.

Renewal costs are broadly similar to the first issue, every two years, plus the licence renewal that the visa depends on. The medical test and Emirates ID fees recur; the entry permit does not, because renewal is done inside the country. Our visa cost calculator lets you add founders and dependants to see the full cost before you choose a package.

Investor visa or golden visa

The two often work as steps in sequence. The 2-year investor visa needs a company but no personal wealth, and it is renewed every two years while the company and its licence stay valid. The golden visa (10 years in Dubai, GDRFA) needs a qualifying asset, most commonly AED 2M of property, and when you qualify on your own asset it does not depend on the company. Its holders are also exempt from the absence rule.

Founders can use both in turn: the investor visa now, to run the business, and the golden visa later, once the qualifying asset makes sense in its own right. If someone offers you a “golden visa upgrade” that gives you nothing your company visa does not already provide, we will tell you.

Family sponsorship, tax residency and corporate tax

Once your own residence visa has been issued, you can sponsor dependants (a spouse, children and, in defined cases, parents) on family visas. The usual conditions are a salary of at least AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation, and suitable housing. As an owner, you show your income through company documents, which we prepare with you.

A UAE residence visa also helps with tax residency. You can apply for a Tax Residency Certificate if you spend 183 days or more in the UAE in 12 months, or at least 90 days if you hold a valid residence permit and have a permanent home or a job or business here. The certificate is what lets you rely on the UAE’s double tax treaties. The visa helps you meet the tests, but it is not the certificate.

One obligation comes with the company rather than the visa: corporate tax registration. The company must register whether or not it owes tax. The standard rates are 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above; a Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on qualifying income and 9% on other taxable income, without the AED 375,000 band. Plan residency and the tax registration together.

Common mistakes with investor visas

A few mistakes come up often. A package with a smaller visa quota than the founding team needs is easy to avoid at selection and hard to fix afterwards. The visa is not permanent: it cannot be renewed while the licence has lapsed, and it is cancelled if the company closes, so a company you stop renewing takes your residency with it. Breaching the six-month absence rule can also invalidate the visa and mean a new entry permit.

Each of these is best dealt with at the company and zone selection stage rather than at renewal. Compare the structures first: our mainland vs free zone comparison sets out quotas, costs and ownership side by side.

Frequently asked questions

This is general information on UAE rules. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice for your situation. Rules and government fees change; we confirm the position for your facts in writing before you act.