Updated August 11, 2026

AE-FI

Residency for the retired

UAE residencyfor 5 years

A resident visa for five years at once, for those over 55 with at least 15 years of working life behind them. There is no personal income tax in the UAE, and you sponsor a spouse and children yourself. An income from AED 180,000 a year is evidenced, or property and savings.

Get a preliminary assessment Go through your situation

The conditions are checked against the UAE government portal
Working since 2004
We run the visa, the Emirates ID and the renewal

Five years at onceThe term of the visa, renewable

No income taxPersonal income is not taxed

The family togetherYou sponsor a spouse and children

01 / About the program

How the retirement visa works

The UAE issue a five-year resident visa to foreigners who have retired. The requirements are simple in their make-up and strict in their figures: age, working life and one of the financial conditions. There is no need to invest in a business.

Age and working life

From 55 at the moment of retirement and no less than 15 years of working life — in the UAE or outside the country.

Two routes on the money

Either property from AED 1m together with savings from AED 1m, or an evidenced annual income from AED 180,000. The source of income may be outside the UAE.

Dubai has its own figures

The emirate sets its own requirements: property from AED 1m, savings from AED 1m or a steady annual income of AED 240,000.

A visa for five years

The status is renewed if the conditions hold. The resident receives an Emirates ID and access to the country’s banking and everyday services.

02 / What you get

What UAE residency gives you

Five years with no re-application

The visa is issued for five years at once and is renewable. That is longer than the standard work visas and requires no employer as sponsor.

A status for the family

The resident sponsors a spouse and children for the same term. The composition and the procedure depend on the emirate.

Banks and services

The Emirates ID opens accounts, housing rentals, communications and medical insurance on resident terms.

The tax regime

There is no personal income tax in the UAE. Tax residency is confirmed separately and depends on actual presence.

A transport hub

Direct flights to Europe, Asia and Africa. A convenient base for those still running affairs outside the country.

Medicine and safety

Private clinics of international standard and one of the lowest crime rates in the region.

A preliminary assessment

Calculate the budget for your family

Set out who is applying with you. With the calculation you get the full UAE picture: the version of the condition that suits, the budget, the timelines and a plan of action.

Who is applying for residency?

Get the calculation

about a minuteno calls and no obligationsconfidential

The full calculation for your family composition
The timeline for each stage of the process
A plan of action: where to start

A UAE resident visa and a set of documents

03 / Why people apply

Why people arrange the retirement visa

The UAE are chosen not for a passport — citizenship is not granted here. It is a status for living and for tax planning while staying mobile.

There is no income tax

Personal income is not taxed in the UAE. For those moving the centre of their life’s interests, that is the key factor.

A long term of status

Five years with no re-application and no tie to an employer — a rarity for the region.

Comfortable infrastructure

Housing, medicine, schools and transport of international standard, with English in everyday use.

Property as a ground

A property bought from AED 1m works both as an asset and as part of the condition for the visa.

The family alongside you

The resident sponsors a spouse and children, and the family lives together for the whole term of the status.

A quick process

With the documents ready the visa is arranged in weeks rather than months — the procedures in the UAE are well run.

04 / Travel

What a UAE resident visa gives you

The resident visa gives rights inside the country and makes travel easier, but it does not replace a passport and gives no citizenship.

Mode 01

The UAE without limits

Residence, entry and exit for the whole term of the visa. A long absence may affect the validity of the status.

Mode 02

The region and the Gulf

UAE residency makes travel around a number of countries in the region easier; the particular rules depend on your passport.

Mode 03

Work needs a separate permit

The retirement visa is not a work visa. Employment requires a transfer to the corresponding type of visa.

Mode 04

The rest of the world on your own passport

The visa regime is set by your passport of citizenship, not by the UAE resident visa.

Sources: the rules for issuing long-term UAE resident visas, the government portal u.ae and the procedures of the ICP and the GDRFA by emirate.

05 / The composition of the application

Who can obtain the status

The main applicant receives the visa and sponsors the family. Open a row to see the conditions.

From 55 at the moment of retirement
Working life of no less than 15 years in the UAE or abroad
One of the financial conditions: income or assets
Medical insurance valid in the UAE

Arranged under the sponsorship of the main applicant
Receives a visa for the same term
There is no separate financial threshold for the spouse

Arranged under the sponsorship of a parent
The age rules depend on the emirate and the child’s sex
They study in the private schools of the UAE

06 / Cost

Which conditions have to be met

The financial requirement is alternative: meeting one of the options is enough. Both are set out below, under the federal rules.

The annual income · the federal requirement

180,000 AED

≈ $49,000

Evidenced The whole term of the visa

An income of no less than AED 180,000 a year or the equivalent in another currency
The source may be either in the UAE or outside the country
Age from 55 and working life of no less than 15 years
Dubai has its own threshold — AED 240,000 a year

Property and savings · the alternative option

1,000,000 AED

≈ $272,000

Evidenced The whole term of the visa

A property or properties worth no less than AED 1,000,000
Plus financial savings of no less than AED 1,000,000
The property is evidenced by an extract from the land department
The condition is checked when the visa is issued and when it is renewed

The version of the condition

The main applicant

Spouse

Children

The conditions follow the federal rules of the UAE government portal. Individual emirates, Dubai among them, have their own thresholds. On top of that come the fees for the visa and the Emirates ID, the medical insurance, the housing and the support.

07 / Comparison

The UAE against the other options

The UAE differ from the European programmes: there is no income tax and no path to citizenship.

	The UAE	Portugal D7	Spain	Cyprus F	Thailand
The requirement	An income of AED 180,000 or assets	€11,040 a year	€28,800 a year	a guide of €9,568	a deposit or income
The term of the status	5 years	2 years	1 year	indefinite	1 year
Income tax	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
An age requirement	from 55	none	none	none	from 50
A path to citizenship	No	10 years	10 years	7 years	No

The conditions are given as at the date this page was updated. UAE citizenship is not granted on this visa.

Full program comparison →

10 / How it works

How the process works

STEP 1

Checking the conditions

We count the age, the working life and the financial condition and choose the option: income or assets. We check the requirements of the particular emirate.

STEP 2

Preparing the documents

Evidence of income or an extract on the property and savings, certificates of working life, the passport and medical insurance.

STEP 3

Filing the application

The application is filed through the authorised body of the emirate — the ICP or the GDRFA. The consideration times are usually short.

STEP 4

The medical test and biometrics

After approval you take the medical examination and give biometrics for the Emirates ID.

STEP 5

The Emirates ID and settling in

Receiving the resident card, opening an account, renting a home and arranging the family under sponsorship.

STEP 6

Renewal after five years

We keep the calendar and check that the conditions hold: the income, the assets and the insurance.

Five years of residency with no employer and no tax on personal income.

The UAEThe Persian GulfThe government portal u.ae

Go through your situation

11 / Our role

Why people arrange the retirement visa with us

The requirements look simple, but the emirates read them differently, and the documents on working life and income have to be prepared in the format accepted here.

We choose the emirate for your case

The federal rules and Dubai’s rules differ in their sums. We work out both options and file where the conditions are met.

We prepare the evidence of working life

Fifteen years of work are evidenced by documents from different countries: we gather and legalise them in advance.

We run the process on the ground

The medical test, the biometrics, the Emirates ID, a bank account and the sponsorship of the family.

We watch the renewal

After five years the conditions are checked again. We keep the calendar and prepare the documents in advance.

12 / Team

Who runs the UAE residency process

The application is run by a permanent team: a lawyer for the programme, a documents specialist and a family coordinator.

Irena SokolovskaHead of Europe OfficeThe strategy for the programme and complex cases

Robert HaasCorporate LawyerRunning the application legally and the documents

Hanna BergerTrusts and Succession AdvisorTax residency and structure

Igor VencReal Estate Managing DirectorCoordinating the family and contact at every stage

15 / Materials

Useful materials on the UAE

Materials on the retirement visa: the conditions as to income and assets, the documents and the order of filing.

The main materialPresentation

The five-year UAE resident visa

The presentation gathers the essentials: the conditions as to age, working life and money, the differences between the emirates, the documents and the timelines.

Inside:

which conditions apply federally and in Dubai
how income and working life are evidenced
what the Emirates ID gives you
whom you may sponsor
which documents will be needed
how the medical test and the biometrics work
how work with BRIDGES is organised

PDF · free · current as of August 2026

A short check: the age, the working life and which of the financial conditions you meet.

The list for the applicant and the family members, marking what has to be translated and legalised.

We calculate the fees, the insurance, the housing and the support.

All the materials are updated regularly by our team and are used when supporting BRIDGES clients.

16 / News

What matters to know

2026-08-11

The federal conditions of the retirement visa: age from 55, working life from 15 years and either an income of AED 180,000 a year or property and savings of AED 1m each.

2026-08-11

Dubai has its own requirements: property from AED 1m, savings from AED 1m or an annual income of AED 240,000.

Worth having

Review UAE retirement residence requirements

The short document we give clients before the start: the conditions, the documents, the stages and the timelines.

Inside the document

The conditions as to income and as to assets
How Dubai differs from the federal rules
The current conditions for 2026

We will send it after a short form - no call or obligation.

17 / Questions

Answers to common questions

Age from 55 at the moment of retirement, working life of no less than 15 years and one of the financial conditions: property from AED 1m together with savings from AED 1m, or an annual income of no less than AED 180,000. Dubai has its own income threshold — AED 240,000 a year.

For five years, renewable while the conditions hold. There is no tie to an employer: the applicant is their own sponsor.

No, it is not a work visa. Employment requires a transfer to the corresponding type of residency.

Yes. The resident sponsors a spouse and children for the same term. The age rules for children differ from emirate to emirate.

There is no personal income tax in the UAE. But tax residency is a separate question: it is confirmed by actual presence and a certificate, and the obligations in the country of former residency remain until they are ended.

No. UAE citizenship is not granted under this programme. It is long-term residency, renewable.

Permanent residence is not required, but a long absence may affect the validity of the visa. The particular rules are checked with the emirate.

With the documents ready, a few weeks: the filing, the medical test, the biometrics and the issue of the Emirates ID. Most of the time goes on evidencing the working life and the income.

There are no restrictions on citizenship. The practical part is bank compliance when opening an account and evidencing the origin of the funds.

INITIAL ASSESSMENT

Tell us what outcome your family needs

We will design a solution for your case, choose the country and the right status, and take the whole process through to the result.

Get a preliminary assessment Book a consultation

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Anna Kovalevskaya, lead lawyer at BRIDGES GLOBAL

Anna KovalevskayaLead lawyer, citizenship and residency, 12 years of practice