Ten-year visas were announced for select UAE residents in January 2019.
Now, more individuals are being allowed to apply for the decade-long visa, as announced His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai on social media today (November 15).
Today, we approved granting the 10-year Golden Visa to all PhD holders in the UAE. Also, the Golden Visa will be granted to top graduates from UAE-accredited universities with a GPA of 3.8 and above.
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) November 15, 2020
The tweet states that more categories will be considered for the visa. Professions now added to the list include ‘all doctors, engineers in the fields of computer engineering, electronics, programming, electricity and biotechnology’.
Qualifications must be from top-rated universities around the world.
Global university rankings are published annually by a number of bodies including Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE) and ShanghaiRanking Consultancy.
In addition, residents who hold degrees in specialised subjects including artificial intelligence, big data and epidemiology and viruses will also be considered.
The changes will come in to effect from December 1 in the UAE.
Other categories granted UAE Golden Residency are specialists in AI, big data, virology, epidemiology & UAE’s high school top graduates and their families. We are keen to embrace talent that drives future development and this is only the beginning.
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) November 15, 2020
When applications opened last year to apply for the visa, only entrepreneurs, scientists and specialised talent and investors qualified to apply.
Plans to draw up a framework to allow long-term visas were first announced in 2018.
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