Khaberni - The UAE maintains its global status as a preferred destination for various groups and ages for living, residence, work, tourism, and more, thanks to a flexible and updated entry and residence system that includes multiple options allowing everyone the opportunity to choose the UAE as an ideal environment characterized by safety, stability, and the availability of opportunities for the distinguished and talented in all fields.
Multiple Visa Categories
According to the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security.. The visa system in the UAE includes diverse types for entry into the country, according to specific controls and standards depending on the purpose of the trip. It includes multiple visa categories, such as tourist entry visas, golden, green, and blue residencies, entry visa for truck drivers through terrestrial ports, entry into adjacent border areas, entry of crew members on cruise ships and pleasure boats, and entry for visiting friends or relatives, among other entry visas that cater to the nature of activities and businesses varying across the country.
The Authority also adopted the conditions for a visa to explore business establishment opportunities, entry of nationals from certain countries who have obtained a specified international residence visa, as well as residence permits for humanitarian cases and bringing relatives or relatives of one's spouse, residence visa for Gulf Cooperation Council country residents and their accompanying persons, and bringing foreigners to reside without work in the country, in addition to criteria and controls for the duration of a foreigner's stay in the country after cancellation or expiration of their residence, and the categories exempted from considering the residence void if a foreigner stays outside the country for more than 180 days, which includes the procedures and requirements when a foreigner's passport or identity card is lost or damaged inside or outside the country.
New Purposes for Entering the UAE
Identity and Citizenship recently issued a decision to add 4 new purposes for UAE entry visas, and amend the time durations and conditions for obtaining several visas, including: Issuing an entry visa for specialists in artificial intelligence for a single trip or multiple trips for a specified period of time, provided a letter from the guaranteeing or hosting entity (establishment specialized in technology) is submitted, and an entry visa for entertainment that is granted to a foreigner coming for a temporary period for the purpose of entertainment.
The third purpose of the visa is an entry visa for visiting (events visa), which is granted to foreigners for a temporary period for the purpose of attending a festival, exhibition, conference, seminar, economic, cultural, sports, religious, community, educational activities, or similar events. It is a requirement for issuing it that the guarantor/host be one of the public/private sector entities, provided a letter from the hosting entity including details of the event and its duration is submitted.
Entry for Tourism and Transit
The decision also stipulated that the Authority may grant a foreigner a multiple-entry visa for the purpose of tourism through cruise ships and pleasure boats for a temporary period, provided it includes a tourist itinerary for entering the country, and that the guarantor/host in this case is an establishment licensed for this type of activity.
The decision further modified the terms and conditions of several existing visas, where it provided for granting a visa to foreign truck drivers for a single or multiple trips, provided the guarantor/host in this case is a freight establishment or a business activity related to goods transportation, fulfilling the financial guarantee and prescribed fee, and that the beneficiary has health insurance.
Visiting a Friend or Relative
The amendments contained in the decision also modified the controls for issuing an entry visa for visiting a friend or relative, noting that if the foreigner coming to the country is a first-degree relative of a foreign resident in the country, the monthly income of the guarantor/host must not be less than 4,000 dirhams. If the foreigner coming to the country is a second or third-degree relative of a foreign resident in the country, the monthly income of the guarantor/host must not be less than 8,000 dirhams, and if the foreigner coming to the country is a friend of a foreign resident in the country, it is required that the monthly income of the guarantor/host not be less than 15,000 dirhams.
Regarding the visa for exploring business opportunities, the decision added a condition for obtaining the visa stating that the foreigner wishing to explore business establishment opportunities must have financial solvency according to the nature of the activity they wish to engage in, or that they be professionally practicing that activity through an establishment or company existing outside the country.
Entry for Humanitarian Cases
Regarding humanitarian cases, the decision specified the visa duration for humanitarian cases to only one year, and allows the head of the Authority to issue a decision to continue granting the visa for foreigners whose countries suffer from war, disasters, or disturbances without a guarantor or host, or to renew that residence or stop it based on reports submitted by the competent administration in the Authority, which is the General Administration for Identity and Foreign Affairs, and considers the residence permit of this type void in case the beneficiary leaves the UAE.
Regarding bringing a citizen or foreigner's relatives or relatives of his spouse under humanitarian cases, the decision authorized the Director-General of Identity and Foreign Affairs at the Authority to exempt some cases from the financial eligibility condition or the degree of kinship or both, with compliance with the same technical and financial conditions and controls currently applicable.
The humanitarian cases section of the new decision added conditions for the residence of a widowed or divorced foreign woman in the country without a guarantor, where the decision allowed granting residence to the wife in case of death or divorce if the husband was a citizen. The residence permit for a widowed or divorced foreign woman without children is issued within 6 months from the date of death or divorce.
In the case of a foreigner, the decision authorized issuing residence for the widowed or divorced foreign woman who has custody and her children within 6 months from the date of death or divorce, provided the widow or divorcee is inside the country, and the guarantor was the husband when death or divorce occurred, and that the widow or divorcee has custody if she wishes to grant her children residence, being the guarantor herself. In case of a custody dispute, the decision is made by the competent committee, and in all cases, the condition of financial solvency and suitable housing must be available, and it may be extended for a similar period based on legitimate reasons.
Extension of Visas
The decision in appendix (A) specified the durations and extension powers for entry visas and the allowed stay duration when issuing the visa, including 6 types of durations and powers, aiming to govern procedures, enhance institutional identity, transparency, integrity, and enable all stakeholders to achieve the goals they sought for obtaining the visa, taking into account the type of visa and its importance to both the stakeholders and the country alike.
