UAE Publishes 6 Key Benefits Available to Foreigners With Golden Residency

• The UAE government outlined six major incentives for foreign nationals who hold a Golden Residency permit
• Golden Residency holders receive a renewable 10-year permit with no requirement for a local sponsor
• The scheme extends benefits to family members, domestic workers, and eligible applicants living outside the UAE

The United Arab Emirates has published a breakdown of six core benefits available to foreign nationals who qualify for its Golden Residency programme, drawing fresh attention to one of the Gulf region's most competitive long-term immigration options.

The scheme is administered by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) and grants eligible foreigners a 10-year residency permit that renews automatically, doing away with the traditional requirement of a local national sponsor.

What the UAE Golden Residency offers

At the heart of the programme is the sponsor-free residency permit itself, which provides a decade of security and stability without tying holders to an employer or Emirati citizen sponsor.

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Beyond that core benefit, holders can obtain residence permits for their spouses, parents, and children of any age, allowing entire immediate families to settle in the country together.

Recipients are also granted full resident rights, meaning they can take up employment, launch businesses, and pursue education freely across the Emirates.

In addition, Golden Residency holders are authorised to sponsor domestic workers under current UAE regulations.

For those applying from abroad, the government offers a six-month multiple-entry visa to facilitate the residency process, with an option to extend that visa for a further six months.

One of the more notable provisions addresses what happens to family members if the primary permit holder passes away.

Under the scheme, sponsored relatives are permitted to remain in the UAE until their own valid residence documents expire, offering a degree of continuity that standard residency arrangements do not typically provide.

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UAE's strategy to attract global talent

The Golden Residency programme is designed as a deliberate tool to draw investors, highly skilled professionals, and significant economic contributors to the country for the long term.

By removing the constraints of employer sponsorship and broadening the rights extended to dependants, UAE authorities are positioning the Emirates as a preferred destination for global talent seeking a stable, permanent base in the region.

UAE announces new work permit costs

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the UAE government had announced work permit issuance and renewal fees that varied depending on how well an employer complied with local labour laws.

The fees were tied to a three-tier classification system administered by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.

Companies with poor compliance records faced the highest permit costs, while those with clean records benefited from significantly lower fees.

Source: YEN.com.gh