Updated
AE-GT
Talent and specialists
A 10-year residence with no sponsor and no investment for doctors, scientists, creative professionals, IT specialists, athletes and senior specialists. The family is included in one application.
01 / About the program
The UAE has no separate talent visa. There is the Golden Residence, a 10-year residence permit, with several categories for talent and specialists inside it. Talent qualifies through a nomination from the relevant government body: a ministry, a council or Dubai Culture. Specialists qualify through an employment contract, a degree and a salary. Neither needs a sponsor.
Talent proves achievements and receives a nomination. A specialist proves the position, the degree and a salary from AED 30,000 a month. The requirements of the two paths do not mix.
Dubai Culture accreditation and the Ministry of Culture recommendation are officially free of charge. Dubai Culture states a decision within 5 working days.
You sponsor yourself. Talent keeps the residence regardless of the employer, including after a change of job.
The spouse and children receive residence for the term of the main visa. Parents can join by a separate GDRFA decision.
02 / What you get
The residence is issued for ten years at once and renewed while the category conditions are met.
The Golden Residence is not cancelled after six months abroad. No separate re-entry permit is needed.
A Golden Visa holder sponsors sons and daughters regardless of their age.
You can work full-time, remotely or part-time and open a company while keeping an independent residence.
There is no limit on the number of domestic workers. Each permit is issued for one or two years.
After the residence expires or is cancelled, the holder and family have six months to arrange a new status.
Preliminary assessment
Tell us who is moving with you. On the call we choose the category, check the requirements and show the family fees, the timeline by stage and a plan of action.
Who is moving?
about a minuteno calls and no obligationsconfidential
03 / Why people apply
The talent route suits people with a record in their profession who prefer not to put AED 2,000,000 into property to obtain residence.
The visa rests on your profession and recognition in it, not on a property purchase.
Talent keeps the visa after leaving a job. The residence belongs to you, not to a company.
The UAE has no personal income tax. Tax residence is arranged separately under the country’s rules.
The spouse, children and parents live in the UAE on your visa. There is no age limit for children.
For IT, media and consulting, Dubai sits in a time zone between Europe and Asia with direct flights both ways.
Ten years are enough to plan the children’s schooling, renting or buying a home and growing your company.
04 / Travel
The Golden Visa gives the right to live in the UAE for ten years, to work and to run your own business. It is not citizenship, and travel to other countries follows your passport.
The Golden Visa replaces employer-sponsored residence but not the work permit. The employer issues it separately for 2 years, usually within 2 working days.
A visa holder can be a shareholder and director of a company. Most mainland activities allow 100% foreign ownership.
The Golden Residence is not cancelled after six months away. You can return at any time while the visa is valid.
Visa requirements for other countries depend on the passport you hold, not on UAE residence.
Legal basis: the federal Golden Residence rules (ICP), GDRFA Dubai requirements for talent and specialists, and the Dubai Culture Cultural Visa standard. Requirements are checked as of the filing date.
05 / The composition of the application
The family receives residence for the term of the main visa. Open a row to see the conditions.
06 / Cost
The talent visa requires no investment. The budget consists of government fees, document preparation and support.
Talent by nomination · no investment
No investment is required
No investment is required
Residence term 10 years with renewal
Skilled professional · employment contract
No investment is required
No investment is required
Residence term 10 years while the contract is valid
Category
Government fees per applicant when applying inside the UAE come to about AED 4,100: issuing the residence through an Amer centre, a 10-year Emirates ID and a medical test. Applying from abroad adds a six-month entry permit, bringing the total to about AED 5,300-6,000. Medical insurance, translation and legalisation of documents, degree recognition and support are paid separately. This is a preliminary calculation, not a decision of a government authority.
06 / Legal grounds
Each category is confirmed by its own government body. These are the categories under which the UAE grants the Golden Visa for qualifications and achievements.
Category 01 · DHA, MOHAP
Doctors licensed to practise in the UAE with a letter from a health authority.
Timing10 years
Category 02 · Scientists Council
Master’s and PhD holders in engineering, technology and the natural sciences.
Timing10 years
Category 03 · Ministry of Economy
Patent holders whose patent adds value to the UAE economy.
Timing10 years
Category 04 · Dubai Culture
Artists, photographers, musicians, writers, designers, architects, film and media.
Timing10 years
Category 05 · AI Council
Developers, data and AI specialists, founders of technology products.
Timing10 years
Category 06 · Dubai Sports Council
Athletes and coaches with the endorsement of a sports authority.
Timing10 years
Category 07 · GDRFA, no nomination
Employees of UAE companies with a degree and a high salary.
Timing10 years
Category 08 · ICP, GDRFA
Senior managers with experience in the role and a salary from AED 50,000.
Timing10 years
Category 09 · Ministry of Education
Top graduates of UAE schools and of universities in the global top 100.
Timing5-10 years
Requirements follow the published rules of ICP, GDRFA Dubai and the relevant bodies as of September 2026. Only a competent UAE authority issues a nomination; we check the requirements as of the filing date.
07 / Comparison
Specialists and people with a track record can choose between several countries that require no investment. The key parameters are in one table.
| UAE | France | Switzerland | US O-1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First status term | 10 years | up to 4 years | 1-5 years | up to 3 years |
| Investment required | No | No for specialists | No | No |
| Sponsor or employer needed | No | For specialists | Yes | Yes |
| Personal income tax | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Processing time | 1-2 months | 2-3 months | 2-4 months | 2-4 months |
The data are given as at the date this page was updated and are checked again before the agreement is signed.
Full program comparison →10 / How it works
We review your education, achievements and work and decide whether you apply as talent or as a specialist. The whole document set depends on this.
For talent we prepare the portfolio and file with Dubai Culture, a ministry or a council. Dubai Culture accreditation takes 5-20 working days.
We file the Golden Residence nomination request with the passport, photo and the body’s letter. The official term is 2 days, in practice 2-10 working days.
From abroad you enter on a six-month permit. If you are already in the UAE, we change the status within 1-3 working days.
The medical test in Dubai takes a day, and biometrics for the Emirates ID are given once.
GDRFA issues the 10-year Golden Residence. Once the nomination is ready, the rest takes 5-15 working days.
The spouse, children and parents apply on your visa right after the main residence is issued.
The same seven steps as a document: what we prepare at each stage, which body issues the nomination and what the family needs.
Outside the categories, we still find a solution: stronger documents for a nomination or the visa through a business or property.
Find a solution11 / Our role
With the talent visa, what matters is choosing the category and preparing the documents before filing. The wrong category leads to a refusal even with strong achievements.
Talent and specialists are assessed under different rules. We check your documents against each category before filing.
The cultural CV, awards, publications, press and contracts go into a file for the authority. Dubai Culture allows a new application only after a year, so we prepare it right the first time.
ICP, GDRFA, the Amer centre, the medical test and the Emirates ID are on us. You only fly in and give biometrics.
Legalisation of certificates, residence for the spouse, children and parents, permits for domestic staff.
12 / Team
The application is handled by a permanent team: the programme lawyer, a document specialist and a family coordinator.
Viktoria LebedevaManaging Director, Private ClientsCategory choice and nomination strategy
Martina VeberHead of Case ProcessingPortfolio, documents and ICP filing
Yan NovakWealth Structuring AdvisorUAE tax residence
Darya MelnikSenior Investment Migration AdvisorFamily coordination and contact at every stage15 / Materials
Materials on the Golden Visa for talent: the categories, the nominating bodies and the family’s move.
Main materialPresentation
The presentation covers the essentials: the visa categories, the nominating bodies, documents, fees, timelines and how we work.
Inside:
PDF · free · current as of September 2026
A comparison of the categories by achievements, degree and salary.
A list for the applicant and family, marked with what to translate and legalise.
We look at your education, achievements and work and choose the category.
All the materials are updated regularly by our team and are used when supporting BRIDGES clients.
16 / News
The UAE introduced long-term 5- and 10-year residence visas for investors, entrepreneurs, specialists and talent.
New rules took effect: an AED 30,000 salary threshold for specialists, no cancellation after six months abroad, sponsorship of children regardless of age.
Worth having
A short document we give clients before the start: the visa categories, the requirements of each, the stages and timelines in one list.
Inside the document
We will send it after a short form - no call or obligation.
17 / Questions
It is the Golden Residence, a 10-year UAE residence with no sponsor. Talent receives it through a nomination from the relevant government body; a specialist through an employment contract, a degree and a salary from AED 30,000 a month.
No. The visa rests on achievements or qualifications. You pay only government fees, insurance, document preparation and support.
Inside the UAE, about AED 4,100 per applicant: the residence, a 10-year Emirates ID and a medical test. From abroad an entry permit is added, bringing the total to about AED 5,300-6,000. Dubai Culture accreditation is free.
The body for your field: Dubai Culture for creative professions, DHA or MOHAP for doctors, the Scientists Council for researchers, the Ministry of Economy for inventors, the AI Council for IT, sports authorities for athletes.
Dubai Culture accreditation takes 5-20 working days, the ICP nomination 2-10 working days. Once the nomination is ready, the residence is issued in 5-15 working days. The whole process usually fits into 1-2 months.
Talent keeps the visa: it is not tied to an employer. A specialist on the salary threshold risks the visa if the contract ends or the salary drops below AED 30,000, so we prepare the documents in advance when you change jobs.
Yes. The Golden Residence is not cancelled after six months abroad. You can return at any time while the visa is valid.
Your spouse, sons and daughters regardless of age, parents by a separate GDRFA decision and domestic staff with no limit on numbers.
We review your situation and decide how to strengthen your documents for a nomination: publications, awards, a portfolio, industry recommendations. If another path is faster, we arrange the Golden Visa through a business or property.
For Dubai Culture accreditation, yes: about 36 hours of lectures or workshops a year or an agreed cultural contribution. Other categories have one obligation: to keep meeting the category conditions at renewal.
INITIAL ASSESSMENT
We will design a solution for your case, choose the country and the right status, and take the whole process through to the result.
