A new wat to obtain UAE citizenship: what are the options for foreigners?

For a long time, the United Arab Emirates denied citizenship to foreign residents, even if they were major investors in the economy of the region. This situation was observed despite the fact that about 80% of the country's population is represented by foreigners. The attitude towards such residents changed dramatically in 2014, when oil prices fell sharply. To keep the economy afloat, the government decided to ease the conditions for foreigners who invest in real estate or business, or are specialists in a particular field and wish to work in the UAE. A special program was developed for them, providing a shorter process of obtaining citizenship.

Conditions for obtaining citizenship

The specific conditions for those wishing to obtain Emirati citizenship differ depending on the type of activity. For example, investors are required to own real estate in the country. Previously, it was required to purchase objects in the amount of at least 5 million dirhams, which is equal to 1.4 million dollars. Whether this amount is still elevant is not specified in the program. However, it contains one additional condition - investors are required to obtain one or more patents approved by some authoritative international body, as well as to have a letter of recommendation from the Ministry of Economy of the country.

As for specialists working in various fields, the following conditions are applied to them:

• Scientists must formally engage in scientific activities. At the same time, they are obliged to conduct it in a public or private university, research center, etc. Their experience in a particular field should not be less than 10 years.
• Doctors are obliged to work in the area that is in demand in the country.
• Artists must be highly skilled and renowned. In addition, an important prerequisite is that they have international awards in this particular direction.Such residents must also provide a letter of recommendation from government agencies.

This program has not yet been implemented and is at its infancy. The exact time when it is going to be implemented is not known. It is also not specified what rights the new citizens of the country are going to have - it is not known whether they will differ from the rights and obligations of residents of the UAE. It is only known for certain that when obtaining citizenship of the Emirates, you will not have to give up the current citizenship that you have - a person can legally own two passports, if this is not prohibited by the country of which he is a resident.